Patna: Bihar on Saturday (June 28, 2025) became the first State in India where voters exercised their franchise through mobile phones. The voting was part of the municipal bypolls and election in six Nagar Panchayats in the State. The districts where the polls were held include Patna, Buxar, Rohtas and East Champaran.
Bibha Kumari and Mannua Kumar, both residents of East Champaran, became the first female and male voters to cast their votes through a mobile phone app. E-voting facility was made available for senior citizens, disabled persons and pregnant women, who may find it difficult to visit polling booths to cast their votes.
While voting continued through the usual method of electronic voting machines at all the polling booths, some voters were able to cast their vote from home through a mobile phone app. The facility was made available for senior citizens, the disabled and pregnant women who may find it difficult to visit the booths. Polling was held across 489 booths for 538 candidates. People were also able to use the State Election Commission website to vote.
“Mrs. Bibha Kumari cast the country’s first e-vote creating new history with e-voting in local body elections. A symbol of convenience, security, and empowered participation,” Bihar’s State Election Commission posted on X. She is a resident of Pakridayal in East Champaran district. Mannua Kumar from the same district was the first male voter to cast an e-vote.
Bihar State Election Commissioner Deepak Prasad had earlier said that eligible voters could install the E-SECBHR app and link the mobile number added in the voters’ list. The app was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
Mr. Prasad, however, did not disclose whether this facility would be available during the upcoming Assembly election due in October-November.
Allaying concerns around the risk of tampering of e-votes, Prasad asserted that efforts have been made to maintain transparency and the voting process would be smooth and fair.
Only two registered voters are allowed to log in using one mobile number and verification of each voter is done by entering the voter identity number. The other security measures put in place use features such as blockchain technology, face-matching and scanning.