EC Mandates Aadhaar Link Amid Voter List Row

Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed officials to make "all attempts" to link Aadhaar numbers with electoral roll data, according to a note circulated to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in all states and Union Territories, the Hindustan Times has learnt.

- Abhishek Angad

Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed officials to make "all attempts" to link Aadhaar numbers with electoral roll data, according to a note circulated to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in all states and Union Territories, the Hindustan Times has learnt.

The instruction was included in a document titled "opening remarks of CEC (chief election commissioner) (at) the CEOs conference March 4," which was later distributed to all CEOs, who were then asked to circulate it among district election officers.

The note quoted chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as saying: "In order to ensure proper identification of electors and ensure necessary communication, all attempts should be made to link with Aadhaar and mobile numbers." Kumar described elections as the "first step" towards "national service" and said the ECI would "leave no stone unturned" to fulfil its constitutional obligations. He also instructed officials to ensure regular updates of the electoral roll in "close coordination with birth and death registration authorities." The CEC further directed that while "conducting door to door surveys," all booth level officers should ensure that Indian citizens above 18 years of age are "invariably enrolled as electors" in accordance with Constitution.

However, the directive appears to contradict the ECI's previous position that Aadhaar linking is not mandatory. The Commission had made this submission to the Supreme Court, which was hearing a case related to a 2022 amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.