EC proposal to link electoral roll with Aadhaar under examination: Law Min

An Election Commission proposal to link electoral roll with Aadhaar to check duplicate entries is "under examination", the Law Ministry has informed the Lok Sabha.

In a written reply, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said to ensure preparation of error-free electoral roll and prevent duplication of entries, the EC has proposed to amend the Representation of the People Act that will enable linking of electoral data with Aadhaar system.

"The matter is under examination," he told the House.

In August last year, the Commission had asked the government to give it statutory backing to collect Aadhaar numbers of new applicants and existing voters to check multiple entries in electoral rolls.

The poll panel had proposed that provisions of the Representation of the People Act be amended to allow the EC to seek Aadhaar numbers of those applying to be voters and also those who are already part of voters' list.

According to the EC proposal, the electoral law should be amended to empower electoral registration officer to seek Aadhaar numbers of the existing voters as well as of those applying to be included in the voters' list.

In August 2015, a Supreme Court order put brakes on the Election Commission's project to link Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) numbers with voters' electoral data to check multiple entries in electoral rolls.

The poll panel was then collecting Aadhaar numbers as part of its National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP).

Seeking to check multiple entries in electoral rolls and to make them error-free, the Election Commission had embarked on an ambitious project to link Aadhaar numbers with voters' electoral data.