AI-powered camera for selfies, no voter queue highlights at Indore’s smart polling station

PTI, Nov 17, 2023, 9:02 AM IST

A”smart” polling station where people can vote without having to stand in queues and take ‘inked finger’ selfies with the help of an Artificial Intelligence-equipped camera has been set up in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, where assembly polls began on Friday morning. The polling station has been set up at Maa Kanakeshwari Devi Government College in Nanda Nagar in Assembly constituency number 2, an official said on Thursday.

“To keep the smart polling station queue-less, we have introduced an online token system. People arriving for voting will be given token numbers and they can sit comfortably in the polling station till their turn comes,” Rupal Chopra, assistant planner of the state-run Indore Smart City Development Limited, told PTI.

“A digital selfie point has also been developed at the polling station where an AI-equipped camera has been installed. After voting, if a person stands at this place and shows the camera his or her finger that has the indelible ink, a selfie will be clicked immediately,” she informed.

A bar code will appear on the screen at the selfie point and scanning it will ensure the photograph is transmitted to the voter’s mobile phone, which can then be shared on social media, the official explained.

A total of 15.55 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes in five assembly constituencies in Indore (urban) on Friday. Assembly poll results will be declared on December 3.