ECI takes AI route to weed out duplicate voters in Bengal
The Statesman | 21 November 2025
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.
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.
Opposition parties have alleged that such duplication is common during the enrolment of migrant workers, with their photographs allegedly used to register dead or fake voters.
The national poll panel believes AI could help curb this problem.
However, officials emphasised that AI alone cannot ensure full transparency. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) remain responsible for door-to-door checks and must verify each elector’s details and photograph.
The SIR, which began on 4 November, has revealed that around two crore voters in Bengal still need to establish their linkage with the 2002 electoral rolls.
The ECI will conduct hearings and verification for this large group. So far, around 2.4 crore voters have already matched their details with the 2002 rolls, and officials expect another 2.5 crore to be able to do so if at least one parent appears in the post-2002 lists. These voters will not require further verification.
Meanwhile, a panel of ECI representatives arrived in Kolkata on Tuesday to review Bengal’s SIR exercise.
The state, often marked by poll-related violence, is preparing for Assembly elections scheduled for April–May next year, with election dates likely to be announced in February.
West Bengal currently has 7.66 crore voters. Officials estimate that nearly two crore people will need to undergo additional checks to establish their linkage with the 2002 voter list.
Since the month-long SIR began, around eight crore enumeration forms have been distributed across Bengal’s 294 Assembly constituencies.
Aadhaar has been included as an indicative document that may be submitted as identity proof during verification. Opposition parties, particularly the BJP, have been demanding the removal of dead and fake voters from Bengal’s electoral rolls.