The Election Commission of India is considering setting up dedicated verification counters outside polling stations in West Bengal to check the identity of voters whose faces are covered by a burqa, ghunghat, scarf or other cloth, two senior officials said.
Under the proposed system, such voters would first have their faces verified against identity cards at an external counter before being allowed to enter the polling station. At present, voters with face coverings enter the booth directly and are verified only when they cast their vote.
“The proposal is still under consideration and a final decision has not yet been taken. If approved, it could be introduced once the Model Code of Conduct comes into force, and operational details will be issued then,” one official said. The verification, they added, would be conducted only by women officials, including female polling staff and Anganwadi sevikas.
The proposal is currently being examined for the upcoming West Bengal elections but could later be extended to other states after further discussions.
Officials said complaints of malpractice in past polls had prompted the idea. State government personnel would staff the counters, while Anganwadi workers would carry out the face verification. Personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces would be deployed to provide security and protect both voters and workers from intimidation or interference during the process.
The plan comes amid a legal dispute between the poll panel and the state government, with the Supreme Court of India noting a “trust deficit” between the two sides in an order issued on February 20. The Commission had earlier told the court that election officials in the state faced obstruction, lack of cooperation and intimidation from the administration.
One official said moving the verification process outside the booth would reduce reliance on state-appointed polling officers and allow closer monitoring by the Commission, Anganwadi workers and security personnel.
“It would also create a visible and documented checkpoint, generating a paper trail that would be easier to defend before the Supreme Court, which is already supervising the election,” the official added.
However, the proposal raises legal questions. Neither the Representation of the People Act, 1951 nor the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 explicitly provides for face verification outside polling stations. Officials said the proposal could be justified under the Commission’s broad constitutional authority under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, but a Bengal-specific system would rely on administrative instructions rather than legislation.
The Commission’s 1994 guidelines issued under former chief election commissioner T. N. Seshan require that identity checks for women with face coverings be conducted privately inside the polling station by female officials. An external counter would depart from those guidelines.
Questions have also been raised about whether applying such a rule only in West Bengal could invite scrutiny under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
A decision is still pending on whether private spaces will be created near the external counters for women who prefer to reveal their faces in privacy.
If implemented, the system would go further than the arrangements used during the recent assembly elections in Bihar, where verification of women wearing burqas or other face coverings was conducted inside polling stations. Anganwadi sevikas were deployed alongside women polling officials at more than 90,000 polling stations to assist with identity checks.
Senior advocate Firdos Mirza criticised the proposal, questioning its legal basis. He argued that the Commission’s authority is limited to the polling station and that creating new verification barriers outside the booth could discourage voters.
Former chief election commissioner O. P. Rawat said voter verification is an essential responsibility of the poll body but must follow clear and uniform rules.
“While the Commission has the authority to introduce identity verification procedures, the system should inspire confidence among election officials as well as political parties and their representatives,” Rawat said, adding that state-specific measures should be introduced only if there is clear evidence of past problems such as violence or fake identification.
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