Development
State Election Commission pilots mobile e-voting with face verification in municipal polls
On 28 June 2025 the Bihar State Election Commission let registered voters in municipal elections and by-polls vote from an Android phone, through the C-DAC-built e-Voting SECBHR app or a second app of the commission's own, while booth voting on EVMs carried on as normal. Voters were verified by a live face scan with liveness detection and face matching, and votes were recorded on a blockchain with an audit trail. It was reported as the first mobile voting in an Indian election. How many votes were actually cast by phone is not clear from the reporting.
- Stage
- Programme or pilot initiated
- Confidence
- High
- Latest news
- Sources
- 10 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 (current stage)
- Operational
- Outcome verified
Good to know: Used in one round of local polls for a self-registered group of voters. No official count of mobile votes has been found, so this stays a pilot.
What's confirmed
7 facts backed by sources
- Mobile e-voting was used in Bihar municipal elections and by-polls on 28 June 2025, alongside normal EVM voting at all booths.
- Two Android apps were used: e-Voting SECBHR, developed by C-DAC, and one developed by the commission.
- The facility was meant for voters who find it hard to reach a booth: senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, the seriously ill and migrant voters. Voters had to register in advance (closing 22 June 2025) with the mobile number on the electoral roll, and no more than two voters could use one number.
- The commission described liveness detection, live face scans and face comparison to prevent impersonation, blockchain recording, and an audit trail similar to VVPAT.
- About 10,000 voters had registered by the evening of 27 June, against a stated capacity of about 50,000.
- Polling covered 489 booths and 538 candidates. The commissioner was quoted as saying 70.20% of eligible e-voters used the app and overall turnout was 62.41%.
- On 6 May 2026 the cabinet approved e-voting for the 2026 municipal elections, with an expert agency engaged at about Rs 31 lakh (Oneindia Hindi).
Still to be confirmed
5 things to watch for
- The number of votes cast by phone. The Times of India wrote that 69.49% 'of the 2,94,719 eligible voters exercised their franchise through e-voting', which cannot be literal when about 10,000 had registered, and Navbharat Times quotes 70.20% of eligible e-voters. The figures are recorded and none is preferred; no official results document gives a count.
- The scope. Pre-poll reports name six councils in Patna, Rohtas and East Champaran and the Buxar Nagar Parishad by-poll; the Times of India describes 42 municipalities in 26 districts. Which of these offered e-voting is unclear.
- How often face verification failed or was retried, and whether any independent security audit of the apps or the blockchain layer was published.
- Whether e-voting was used in the 2026 municipal polls the cabinet approved it for. Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are run by the Election Commission of India, so this system does not extend to them without an ECI decision.
- Cost and vendor of the blockchain layer. A crypto trade site names a blockchain network; no official source does.
How it unfolded (6)
Each step as a dated source records it, oldest first
- Announcement
The commission presented an e-voting solution 'in progress', with citizen authentication using AI and votes secured on a blockchain, at the national conference of State Election Commissions.
State Election Commission, Bihar: 'Fortifying Electoral Integrity: A Comprehensive Approach', 30th National Conference of SECs, Bodh Gaya, 15-18 March 2024
- Announcement
The State Election Commissioner told Akashvani that mobile e-voting would start with the 28 June polls, with face recognition and liveness checks, and that 10,000 voters had registered of up to 50,000 who could use it.
CNBC-TV18
- Announcement
The commissioner said voters in six councils in Patna, Rohtas and East Champaran could vote by mobile the next day; about 10,000 had registered by that evening, and registration had closed on 22 June.
The Hindu · Livemint
- Pilot
Voters in six nagar panchayats and municipal by-polls cast votes by mobile phone alongside booth voting, across 489 booths and 538 candidates.
The Hindu · Akashvani News (Prasar Bharati) · The Times of India
- Pilot
Reporting quoted the commissioner as saying 70.20% of eligible e-voters had used the app, against 54.63% booth turnout and 62.41% overall.
Navbharat Times (PTI inputs)
- Pilot
At the India AI Impact Summit the Union IT minister praised the commission's secure e-voting, which the state presented among its AI applications.
The Times of India
Sources (10)
Who reported it, when, and what they cover
| Publisher | Published | Covers | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
CNBC-TV18 Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Livemint Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Hindu Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Hindu Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Akashvani News (Prasar Bharati) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Navbharat Times (PTI inputs) Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Times of India Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
The Times of India 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) | |
Oneindia Hindi Established news |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) |
Record ID: BIHAR-AI-2025-06-001Dataset last checked Spotted an error? Report a correctionHow corrections work