The Election Commission has decided to introduce a new feature in its software that will detect ‘ghost voters’. This comes after ECI faced questions by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the existence of "fake voters." According to an official, this new feature will help Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) identify cases in which more than one voter name is associated with a single EPIC number, improving the integrity and accuracy of the electoral records.

“The chief electoral officers in all states have been informed about this decision.  Earlier on Monday, a letter was sent to the chief electoral officers of the states informing them about a new module for correcting 'duplicate EPIC numbers”, an official said. “Until now, the state election officers or the district EROs could not see the identity cards or EPIC numbers of voters from their end and thus missed out on those with similar EPIC numbers in other states,” he added. West Bengal's Acting Chief Electoral Officer, Dibyendu Das, held a virtual meeting with senior district officials on Monday. During the meeting, he informed them about the decision to complete corrections in the state's voter list by March 21. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commended India's Election Commission, calling it "neutral and independent." He stated that the way India manages its massive democratic process should be studied by the global community. In a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman, Modi highlighted the enormous scale of India's elections, its complexity, and the strong political involvement of its citizens. "In India, we have a neutral and independent Election Commission that conducts elections and takes all decisions. This in itself is such a big bright story that major universities around the world should conduct case studies on its management," PM Modi said.

Fridman mentioned that the global community should study India's electoral system, considering its scale and the political awareness of its people. He also pointed out that Indian elections reveal several interesting aspects and asked if Modi had found any particular story especially impactful. There were 980 million registered voters, more than double the population of North America and more than the entire population of the European Union, PM Modi noted in reference to the general election in 2024. "Out of 980 million registered voters, 646 million stepped out of their homes to vote, even in the extreme heat of May when temperatures in some places reached 40 degrees Celsius," the Prime Minister said in the podcast.