ECI collects over 54 cr Aadhaar numbers to link to voter IDs

The Parliament recently empowered the election watchdog to collect Aadhaar numbers for linking with voter IDs

As part of a special campaign, the Election Commission has collected 54.32 crore Aadhaar numbers of registered voters who haven't linked the unique ID to their voter IDs, The Indian Express reported. These Aadhaar numbers will now be linked to voter IDs by the poll panel.

Nearly 95 crore voters linked their Aadhaar with Voter IDs voluntarily, the report said.

Also Read — 55-56 crore voters have linked Aadhaar details with electoral rolls: ECI

The campaign was launched after the Parliament passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, empowering the election watchdog to collect Aadhaar numbers for linking with Voter IDs. The act allows electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who wish to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing identity.”

However, the act mentioned that it will be done on a voluntary basis and the ECI will not reject an application if the Aadhaar number is not linked to the Voter ID.

The Opposition raised concerns in the Parliament regarding privacy of the voters being compromised. The Law Ministry on June 17 informed that April 1, 2023 as the last date for voters to choose to submit their Aadhaar numbers for linking with voter IDs by filing Form 6-B.

Meanwhile, the poll body has not answered other questions of when the linking process will start and how the data collected was being stored by the EC raised. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju assured voters that they wouldn’t be removed from electoral rolls for not linking Aadhaar and voter IDs.He added that Aadhaar numbers were stored in ‘Aadhaar Data Vault’, a centralised storage unit.