Linking your Aadhaar with your voter ID is voluntary, but a recent petition in the Supreme Court has highlighted that the forms for registering electors do not make this clear.
The Election Commission of India, thus, approached the Union government, proposing amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and voter enrolment forms, to delete the provision that compels a voter to provide reasons for her decision not to seed her Aadhaar number with the voter ID card. The proposal, however, is learned to have been turned down by the Union Law Ministry.
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When and why did the EC first decide to link Aadhaar with Voter IDs?
On February 15, 2015, then-Chief Election Commissioner H S Brahma had announced that the EC would start a drive to link Aadhaar with the electoral roll database from March 1 that year. The aim of the drive was to remove bogus or duplicate entries from the electoral roll, and was to be completed by August of that year. Brahma had clarified that the exercise would be voluntary.
After the Supreme Court on August 11, 2015 ruled that Aadhaar could only be used for government schemes for distribution of food grains, LPG and kerosene, the EC stopped its drive. By then, it had already collected 38 crore Aadhaar details.
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What has been the EC’s stand since?
In 2019, the EC again proposed linking Aadhaar with the electoral roll, asking the government to amend the election laws to enable collecting of Aadhaar details. The government then brought the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was passed by Parliament in December 2021, to enable linking of Aadhaar and Voter IDs. Under the Act, the EC re-started collection of Aadhaar numbers from July 2022 on a voluntary basis. A new Form, Form6-B, was introduced for existing electors to give their Aadhaar number and the form for new registrations was amended as well.
What was the latest petition in the Supreme Court?
A Congress leader from Telangana, G Niranjan, moved the Supreme Court last year, seeking directions to the Election Commission and the government to make amendments so those who don’t want to link their Aadhaar and Voter ID have that option. The Law Ministry had issued a notification on June 17, 2022 that every person whose name is on the electoral roll “may intimate” the Aadhaar number. The Form 6B gave only two options — either provide the Aadhaar number or say one doesn’t possess an Aadhaar. This would force those who did not want to give their Aadhaar number into making a false declaration. The EC told the court in September that it would make the clarificatory changes required.
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What did the EC propose and what was the government’s stand?
The EC in a letter to the Law Ministry in December proposed amending the RP Act, 1950 to remove the requirement of a “sufficient cause” for not providing Aadhaar. It also asked the government to amend the registration forms that did not give an option to the individual who has an Aadhaar but chooses not to furnish it.
The EC proposed amending the form’s two options, of either giving Aadhaar or saying you don’t have one, to a single line saying “Aadhaar Number (Optional)”. The government, however, is believed to have said there is no need for the amendment and clarifications from the EC will be enough.
