Development
State Election Commission checks voters' faces in local-body polls
The Bihar State Election Commission replaced the fingerprint checks of the 2021 panchayat polls with a Face Recognition System (FRS) that compares a voter's face at the booth with the photo on record and flags anyone trying to vote twice. It was announced for the 2022 municipal elections and is first evidenced in use at the May and June 2023 by-elections, where Chennai startup FaceTagr's tool ran at 450 and then 1,700 booths. The commission describes FRS as AI-based but has published no figures on voters checked or duplicates caught.
- Stage
- Operational
- Confidence
- High
- Latest news
- Sources
- 6 cited
Journey so far
The highlighted step is the current stage. Not every development passes through every step.
- Announcement only
- Agreement approved
- Agreement finalised
- Programme or pilot initiated
- Operational (current stage)
- Outcome verified
Good to know: Use at booths is evidenced by contemporaneous reporting and by the commission's own presentation, but no results document has been found, so this is not a verified outcome.
What's confirmed
5 facts backed by sources
- The 2021 panchayat polls verified voters by fingerprint; in August 2022 the commission said voters in the municipal elections would be identified by face for the first time.
- For the December 2022 municipal elections, FRS staff were being posted to polling stations and biometric machines were withdrawn after failing at several booths in 2021; where they failed, voting had continued on photo ID.
- FaceTagr's tool, which compares a voter's face with the voter ID photo, was used across 450 booths in the 25 May 2023 panchayat by-elections and 1,700 booths in the 9 June 2023 urban local body by-elections.
- The Economic Times reported that the 9 June 2023 polls, in 31 municipalities across 21 districts, were the first in which the commission used FRS to confirm voters' identities.
- The commission's March 2024 conference presentation lists 'AI-based FRS and biometric-based authentication' as poll-day technology, and in June 2025 Akashvani described FRS as one of its standing technologies.
Still to be confirmed
5 things to watch for
- Whether FRS actually ran on polling day in the December 2022 municipal elections. The December 2022 report describes preparations only, and The Economic Times calls June 2023 the first use. Both are recorded and neither is preferred.
- FaceTagr's statement that the tool prevented close to 10,000 attempts at bogus voting in May 2023 is a company claim, unverified. The commission's claim that facial recognition 'significantly' reduced malpractice gives no figures.
- Which vendor supplied FRS outside the May and June 2023 by-elections, and on what contract or cost.
- Accuracy, false-match handling at the booth, and how long voters' face images are kept. No source addresses data retention.
- Whether FRS will be used in the 2026 panchayat general elections.
How it unfolded (6)
Each step as a dated source records it, oldest first
- Announcement
After a review meeting with district magistrates, the commission said voters in the coming municipal elections would be identified by face for the first time; the 2021 panchayat polls had used fingerprints.
Live Hindustan (Hindustan, Patna)
- Programme initiated
Reporting ahead of the December municipal polls said FRS staff were being posted at polling stations in Patna, with 776 staff to be briefed on the app, and that biometric machines had been dropped in favour of FRS.
Live Hindustan (Hindustan, Patna)
- Operational
FaceTagr's face-matching tool was used across 450 booths in the panchayat by-elections.
The Times of India (Chennai)
- Operational
The tool was used at 1,700 booths in the urban local body polls in 31 municipalities, reported as the commission's first use of FRS to confirm voters' identities.
The Economic Times · The Times of India (Chennai)
- Operational
The commission listed AI-based FRS and biometric authentication among its poll-day technologies at the 30th National Conference of State Election Commissions in Bodh Gaya.
State Election Commission, Bihar: 'Fortifying Electoral Integrity: A Comprehensive Approach', 30th National Conference of SECs, Bodh Gaya, 15-18 March 2024
- Operational
Akashvani reported FRS for voter verification as one of the technologies the commission has introduced in panchayat and urban local body elections.
Akashvani News (Prasar Bharati)
Sources (6)
Who reported it, when, and what they cover
| Publisher | Published | Covers | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Live Hindustan (Hindustan, Patna) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Live Hindustan (Hindustan, Patna) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Economic Times Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Times of India (Chennai) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
State Election Commission, Bihar: 'Fortifying Electoral Integrity: A Comprehensive Approach', 30th National Conference of SECs, Bodh Gaya, 15-18 March 2024 Official government |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Akashvani News (Prasar Bharati) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) |
Record ID: BIHAR-AI-2022-08-001Dataset last checked Spotted an error? Report a correctionHow corrections work