EC launches campaign to link voter ID with Aadhaar: What you need to know

The Election Commission of India (EC) on Monday launched a nationwide drive to link voter ID cards with Aadhaar cards.

As per the EC, the voter ID and Aadhaar linking drive will help in establishing identity of the voters and prevent duplicate entries in the electoral roll.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill that authorised the linking of Aadhaar with voter ID was passed by the Lok Sabha last year, according to a report by Mint.

The EC has decided to set up camps across Maharashtra to assist people to link their Aadhaar with their voter IDs.

Here’s all you need to know about the drive:

Why is it needed?

Linking of voter ID with Aadhaar will establish the identity of an elector and will prevent a person from registering his or her name in more than one constituency.

The move will also make voters aware about the latest updates from the Election Commission through mobile notifications, according to an Indian Express report.

The drive to link voter ID with Aadhaar is voluntary and voters can choose not to link their cards.

The name of a voter will not be deleted from the voter list if he or she doesn’t provide his or her Aadhaar number.

Ajay Kumar Shukla, the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh said, “On the instructions of the Election Commission of India, the process of voluntarily collecting Aadhaar numbers from the voters enrolled in the electoral roll will start from 1 August .”

How to link voter ID with Aadhaar?

Following self-authentication, voters can fill form 6-B either online or offline, available at the election commission website or at electoral registration offices. The Aadhaar number will be provided by the voters in the same form, which is notified by sub-rule 26B of the Electoral Registration Rules of 1980.

Shrikant Deshpande, Maharashtra’s Chief Election Officer, said, “To link Aadhaar card to Voter ID card, voters need to fill application form 6-B available online on the election commission website and at electoral registration offices. It can be linked online on Voter helpline app and national voter service portal, too.”

In addition to this, booth level officers (BLO) will conduct door-to-door visits to get people to fill the form after which records will be digitised accordingly.

According to a Hindustan Times report, two dates have been fixed to organise special camps on Sundays to help people link their Aadhaar with voter ID smoothly. These camps will be set up at all the polling centres in a state.

Why is the move being opposed?

The law has been widely opposed by the Opposition.

Last month, Congress’ Randeep Surjewala demanded that the law be scrapped.

In his petition to the Supreme Court, he called the law “unconstitutional” and a violation of the right to privacy and equality. In reply to his petition, the apex court asked Surjewala to move the high court, according to a NDTV report.

Apart from Congress, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena and the BSP have opposed the law, arguing that it will allow non-citizens to vote.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The Bill is outside the legislative competence of the House as it violates the limits on legislation set by the Supreme Court in its judgment (Puttaswamy vs Union of India).”

His party colleague Manish Tiwari added, “The linking of voter IDs and Aadhaar violates the fundamental right to privacy as defined by the Supreme Court in the judgment,” according to an Indian Express report.

However, law minister Kiren Rijiju rejected the Opposition’s claim and clarified that the amendment was meant to stop fraudulent voting.

With inputs from agencies

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