The Supreme Court of India has agreed to examine the feasibility of introducing biometric and facial recognition for voters to enhance the electoral process and prevent fraud.
A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay raises concerns over persistent electoral malpractices such as bribery, undue influence, impersonation, duplicate voting, and the presence of 'ghost voters.'
The PIL urges the court to direct the Election Commission to introduce fingerprint and iris-based biometric authentication at polling booths to ensure that only genuine voters cast their ballots.
According to the petition, current voter identification mechanisms remain vulnerable to misuse due to outdated photographs, clerical errors, and the absence of real-time validation.
The proposed biometric system could effectively eliminate impersonation and multiple voting, address issues relating to migrant voters and duplicate electoral entries, and create a real-time audit trail, thereby improving transparency and accountability in elections.
