ECI takes AI route to weed out duplicate voters in Bengal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to deploy AI-based software in West Bengal to identify duplicate voters as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

A senior official at the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said the software will use facial recognition to detect voters with duplicate photographs.

"The AI-based software, through the face recognition feature, will identify the voters who are duplicates," the official said on condition of anonymity. According to officials, the SIR process in Bengal, including enumeration form (EF) distribution, collection, and digitisation, is expected to be completed by 25-26 November, ahead of the publication of the draft roll.

Officials in the CEO's office said the AI system would help trace cases where the same photograph has been used to enrol multiple voters.