ECI to use AI tools during SIR to identify duplicate voters

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is planning to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to identify duplicate voters as part of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the second phase of the exercise, sources said on Friday. According to them the AI tools will be used for facial recognition to detect voters with duplicate photographs. The AI-based software, through the face recognition feature, will identify the voters and de-duplicate them, a source said. According to the sources, the second phase of the SIR process, 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. They said that the AI system would also help trace cases where the same photograph has been used to enroll multiple voters. Complaints have been received by the ECI with regard to rampant use of such duplicate pictures during the enrolment of migrant workers, with their photographs allegedly used to register dead or fake voters. The sources said the ECI believes AI could help curb this problem. However, the sources stressed that AI tools alone cannot ensure full transparency and therefore Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been made responsible for door-to-door checks and must verify each electors details and photograph. According to ECI officials so far the Commission personnel have distributed 50.40 crore (nearly 99 percent) enumeration forms to electors as part the SIR exercise in nine states and three Union Territories and out of these more than 13.50 crore forms (nearly 27 percent) have already been digitised.