Bihar debuts AI-based e-Voting for urban local body polls, eyes Assembly poll expansion

Exam-focused facts from the 20 February 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

State Election Commission, Bihar piloted Artificial Intelligence-based e-Voting in the Urban Local Body polls and plans to extend the model to the next Assembly elections.
The mobile app allowed migrant workers, students outside constituencies, senior citizens, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and hospitalised patients to vote remotely.
Voters authenticated identity with EPIC database photo via live facial recognition, liveness detection, device verification and blockchain encryption.
Each vote was encrypted and recorded through blockchain; decryption occurred only after Returning Officers authenticated using Digital Signature Certificates, two-factor authentication and hash verification.
Deepak Kumar, State Election Commissioner, stated this is the first time such e-Voting has been implemented in a live election in India.
Dastavez AI, founded by Anmol Bharti and Amrit Bharti, showcased AI-driven legal document drafting for lawyers, startups and citizens at AI Impact Summit 2026.
Tiger Analytics signed an MoU with the Government of Bihar at the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 to establish an AI Centre of Excellence with IIT Patna for skill development, research and governance solutions.