‘Forcible’ Aadhaar-voter ID linking

‘Forcible’ Aadhaar-voter ID linking

Subject: Government Schemes

Context :Despite clarifications from various government authorities that the linking of Aadhaar with the voter identity card is “voluntary”, there have been instances of people being warned by booth-level officers that their voter ID would be cancelled if it is not linked to their Aadhaar number.

Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021:  Features

• De-Duplication of Electoral Roll: It provides for amendment of section 23 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1950, enabling the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.
  • This aims to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places.
  • This will help in stopping bogus voting and fraudulent votes.
  • This linking is in consonance with 105^th report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personal, Public Grievances and Law and Justice.
• Multiple Qualifying Dates: The citizens get voting rights when they turn 18. However, many are left out of the electoral rolls even after turning 18. This is because in the system, 1^st January is the qualifying date.
  • According to the bill, four qualifying dates will be declared for updating the voting rolls to include those who have turned 18 — the first day of the months of January, April, July and October.
• Bringing Gender Neutrality: The language for registration of ‘wives of service voters’ will now be replaced by ‘spouse’. This will make the laws more “gender-neutral”.
  • Service voters are those serving in the armed forces, armed police forces of a state serving outside it and government employees posted outside India.

Concerns

• The Ministry of Law and Justice recently amended Form 6, and introduced Form 6B to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “These forms make it compulsory for those who have Aadhaar to provide their Aadhaar Numbers in order to vote“
• The move, however, has drawn flak from various sections of society citing violations to an individual’s right to privacy. Many have also flagged concerns that the linkage would help in creating voter profiles which may be used to influence the voting process.