Bihar, Telangana poll panels to make presentation on use of technology in elections polls

Aparliamentary committee will next month invite officials of the State Election Commissions in Bihar and Telangana to showcase the use of technology, including biometric systems to authenticate genuine voters, in conducting local body polls.

Sushil Modi, chairperson of the Department-related Standing Committee on Law and Personnel, said the panel would invite the SECs of the two states for a presentation sometime in January next year.

”In a first, Bihar used biometric system to authenticate voters during the panchayat elections. The voting percentage went down (to 65 per cent). The reason was that only genuine voters exercised their voting rights,” Sushil Modi told PTI.

He said the Bihar State Election Commission also experimented with another technology — the results shown on individual EVMs (control units) were captured by CCTV cameras and sent to the central table after adding all results.

”What happens now is that results displayed on individual EVMs are noted on paper and sent to the central table where they are added up using calculator. There are chances of someone fudging the figures. Under the system used in Bihar, everything is fast and automated,” he explained.

State election commissioners of five states have so far been to Bihar to understand the CCTV-based counting system, he noted.

Referring to a ‘mock poll’ organised by the Telangana SEC, in which a group of sample voters used smart phones to cast their votes in Khammam district, he said a presentation on the technology used will be sought.

State Election Commissions are entirely separate bodies mandated to hold local body polls in their respective states.

The Election Commission of India organises polls to elect the president, vice president, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and members of state legislative assemblies and legislative councils.