Govt to link Aadhaar number with voter list, voter card to prevent fake voting: Report

The Supreme Court said that if the government wants to link the voter list in the Aadhaar ecosystem, it will have to take legal backing for this.

Published on: Aug 13, 2021, 07:43:10 IST

Written by Susmita Pakrasi | Edited by Meenakshi Ray, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

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In order to prevent fake voting and enrolling a person in more than one place in the electoral process, the central government will link their Aadhaar ID number with the voter list and voter ID card, Live Hindustan reported on Friday. The government is likely to take the action after the assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, which is due next year, people familiar with the matter told Live Hindustan.

The people cited by Live Hindustan said that the government is ready to link the voter ID card and the voter list with Aadhaar but it will have to amend the laws. In addition to this, a data protection framework has to be established.

In order to link the voter list with Aadhaar, the central government will have to amend the Aadhaar Act along with the Representation of the People Act. This is because, in 2015, the Supreme Court in its judgment on the validity of the Aadhaar Act said that the 12-digit ID would be used only for taking benefits of government welfare schemes and for other facilities, it will not be necessary to ask for Aadhaar number.

The Supreme Court said that if the government wants to link the voter list in the Aadhaar ecosystem, it will have to take legal backing for this. The top court then declared privacy as a fundamental right in 2019 and asked the government to make laws for data security. The government has prepared the Data Protection Bill, which is under consideration by the parliamentary committee.

The people cited above said the voters' list will not be seeded into the Aadhaar's ecosystem and it will be used only under the One Time Password (OTP) system for verification. These two data will not match, nor will anyone be able to tap or intercept the voter system. This system will undergo extensive trials and linking action will be taken after meeting all aspects of data security.

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