Uttar Pradesh sec trials facial recognition ahead of panchayat polls
India
Uttar Pradesh's State Election Commission (SEC) just trialed a facial recognition app in Katra and Fazilnagar bypolls.
The goal? To catch duplicate voters by matching faces with ID cards instantly.
Commissioner RP Singh says this tech is rolling out across 220,000 polling booths for the upcoming panchayat polls.
App verifies voters in 20 seconds
The app verifies voters in about 20 seconds and gives real-time stats on turnout and demographics, all from presiding officers' smartphones (which are locked down during use).
After voting, data gets securely sent to SEC servers.
Singh also mentioned that final voter lists will be ready by June 10, with extra checks in place, even for tricky cases like twins or changed appearances, so no one slips through the cracks.