EXPLAINER: How will biometric voting system eliminate fake voting? Know its benefits, challenges and effects

Supreme Court PIL: A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court. In this petition, a demand has been made to direct the Election Commission to implement finger and iris based biometric identification system at the polling stations in the upcoming assembly elections. This petition has been filed on behalf of social worker and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The petition said that in the present system, irregularities like duplicate voting, impersonation (voting in someone else’s name) and ghost voting are continuously coming to the fore. The petitioner has approached the Supreme Court demanding to make the election process more transparent and credible.

There should be modernization of polling stations.

Through the petition, a demand has been made that the Election Commission should start fingerprint and iris based system at polling stations. So that only valid voters can cast their vote. Due to which ‘One citizen, one vote’ The principle of can be strictly implemented. Currently, reliance on voter ID cards and manual verification continues to pose problems such as outdated photographs, record errors and lack of real-time verification. Because of this the possibility of misuse increases.

Is it possible to do this?

In fact, in the petition, citing the powers of the Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution, it has been said that the Commission is capable of implementing this technology by amending the rules. This can solve problems like migrant voters, duplicate names and fake voting. Additionally, creation of a real-time audit trail will also increase transparency and accountability in the electoral process.

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This technology is being used in other areas also

The petitioner argues that this system will be in line with existing identification systems like Aadhaar and modern technology being used in other government sectors. On March 28, a representation was also submitted to the Election Commission regarding this demand but no action has been taken till now. In such a situation, the Supreme Court has been approached for intervention in the matter. The petition also sought to issue other necessary instructions to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.