Linking Aadhaar with voter ID may be mandatory: Here's what you must know

Have you linked your voter ID with Aadhaar yet? Soon, linking of voter ID with Aadhaar maybe made mandatory. According to a report published in Economic Times, the Election Commission, in a shift in its stand, is preparing to pitch for the mandatory, legally backed, linking of voter IDs with Aadhaar number.

"The commission will propose amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that will require citizens to link their Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) with the 12-digit Aadhaar, while ensuring privacy protection," the report said.

In October, EC informed the Madras High Court it had no object linking Aadhaar with electoral rolls and voter ID card as sought in a public interest litigation to check bogus and invalid entries.

The commission, however, said a decision has to be taken keeping in view the recent Supreme Court order on the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme.

The commission said that It also had to consider the expenses that would be incurred in case Aadhaar was linked.

EC's U-turn

In 2015, the commission had embarked on 'voluntary' Aadhaar linking. However, the Supreme court stalled the process over privacy concerns. By that time it had covered nearly 380 million voters. India currently has more than 750 million registered voters.

Benefits of Aadhaar-voter id linking

A PIL sought mandatory linking of voter id to Aadhaar. Petitioner M L Ravi sought linking of Aadhaar with electoral rolls and voter IDs to check entry of repeat, multiple, illegal, invalid, false voters. He submitted to the Madras High Court that the manual door-to-door verification process for the preparation of electoral rolls by the EC resulted in errors.

Election Commission has halted seeding of voter cards with Aadhaar numbers for the time being. However, if and when EC has its way, here's how you will be able to link voter id with Aadhaar:

Steps for portal seeding

— Enter your details such as state, district, personal details such as name, date of birth and father’s name.

— Once you fill in all these details then, click on the “Search” button. If the information provided by you matches with the Government database, then the details will appear.

— Click on “Feed Aadhaar No”

— Once you click there, a pop-up page will appear. Fill in your name as provided in Aadhaar card, Aadhaar number, voter ID number, registered mobile number and/or registered email address.

— Click on “submit”

— A message will appear on the screen stating that your application to link Aadhaar with voter ID has been registered successfully.

Link through booth-level officers

Aadhar can also be linked with the voter id by submitting an application to your respective Booth Level Officer (BLO). The information provided will be verified by the BLO and after verification, it will be reflected in the records.