Election Commission considers pre-entry identity checks for veiled voters in Bengal

NEW new delhi : The Election charge of bharat (ECI) is considering a proposition to go down up dedicated verification counters outside polling stations in West Bengal to check the identity of voters whose faces are covered, such as by a burqa, ghunghat, scarf or other cloth, two senior commission officials said, asking not to be named.Under the proposed system, such voters would have their faces checked against their identity cards at the external counter before being allowed to enter the polling station. Under the existing procedure, voters with face coverings enter the polling station directly and are verified only at the time of casting their vote, inside the booth.“The proposal is still in the pipeline and the final decision is yet to be taken. If approved, it may be introduced when the Model Code of Conduct comes into force; further operational details will be issued at that stage,” one of the officials said. “The verification will be uniform — it will be conducted only by women officials, female polling staff and Anganwadi Sevikas.”The proposal is currently being examined for the West Bengal elections, but the officials said it could also be considered for other regions going to polls after further discussions.The officials cited complaints of malpractice in past elections as one of the reasons for the proposal.Both officials confirmed that state government officials will staff the verification counters. However, Anganwadi sevikas will conduct the actual face verification. Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel will deploy at the counters to ensure security and protect both the Anganwadi workers and voters from intimidation, pressure or interference during the verification process.The poll panel and the state government have been locked in a legal dispute, with the Supreme Court noting a “trust deficit” between the two sides in its February 20 order. The Commission had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging obstruction, lack of cooperation and intimidation of election officials by the state administration.“Inside-booth verification depends entirely on state-appointed polling officers conducting the checks. Moving the process to an external counter under closer ECI supervision, staffed by Anganwadi workers, election officials and CAPF personnel, reduces reliance on regular polling staff and ensures better monitoring of the verification process,” one of the officials mentioned above said.“It also creates a visible, documented and auditable checkpoint, generating a paper trail that would be easier to defend before the Supreme Court, which is already supervising the election,” they added.The proposal raises several legal questions. The Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 — the two primary statutes governing elections — do not mention any face-verification procedure at polling stations. The officials quoted above said the proposal technically falls within the Commission’s broad constitutional powers under Article 324, but any Bengal-specific system would rest on administrative instructions rather than explicit parliamentary legislation.The Commission’s own 1994 guidelines, issued during then chief election commissioner T.N. Seshan’s tenure, require that identification checks be conducted inside the polling station, in a private space, and only by female officials. A public verification counter outside the booth would depart from those instructions.Questions have also been raised about whether applying such a procedure only in West Bengal — while not doing so in other states with similar practices — could invite scrutiny under Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law.A decision is still pending on whether private spaces, where women can show their faces if they require privacy, will be created alongside the external counter.If implemented, the proposal would go beyond the procedure used during the Bihar Assembly elections last year, where verification of women voters wearing a burqa or other face coverings was carried out inside polling stations. Anganwadi Sevikas were deployed alongside women polling officials at over 90,000 polling stations across Bihar to assist in verifying identities — but the process remained indoors.Senior advocate Firdos Mirza criticised the proposal, questioning its legal basis. “The ECI’s authority is limited to the polling station. Outside the booth it cannot create new verification barriers for voters,” he said. If such a system were introduced, Mirza said, it could not be handled only by women officials — representatives of all political parties, such as booth-level agents, must also be present to ensure transparency. “The MCC does not give the Commission unlimited powers; it mainly prevents the ruling government from misusing state machinery during elections. The RPA also does not authorise such face-verification procedures,” he said.“Creating additional hurdles at the booth entrance risks discouraging voters, while the aim of the election process is to maximise participation,” Mirza added.‘Must follow uniform rules’Former chief election commissioner O.P. Rawat said voter verification is an essential ECI responsibility but any process must follow clear and uniform rules. “On polling day, the Commission’s foremost responsibility after ensuring free and fair elections is verifying the identity of voters. The Commission does have the authority to introduce procedures for identity verification, but the system should inspire confidence not only among election officials but also among political parties and their representatives,” he said.“Generally, states voting together follow a common set of rules. State-specific measures should be introduced only if there is a clear background of violence, fake identification or similar problems observed in past elections. Without such justification, it becomes difficult to frame separate guidelines for one state,” Rawat said.