The Haryana Election Commission is considering Aadhaar-assisted voting in a municipal ward in Gurugram during the civic body elections scheduled for later this year. The move will involve voter identity cards being linked with Aadhaar cards.
Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh told The Hindu that the State Election Commission had been informed in writing that Aadhaar-assisted voting could be held in Ward 15 of the district as it had 99% Aadhaar card holders. He added that further communication from the commission was awaited.
Legal issues remain
Though the Haryana Election Commission officials refused to come on record, sources said the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had been approached last month to explore the possibility of linking Aadhaar cards with voter ID cards for one ward. The source revealed that the State commission had sent a team to the UIDAI, but some legal issues remained as the Supreme Court had ruled that Aadhaar cards can’t be made mandatory. The sources said the “thought” was being mooted as an Information Technology initiative as several countries even have provision for Internet voting.
As of now, ward-wise distribution of voters is being done to prepare for the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram elections. An announcement about Aadhaar-assisted voting will come only after a decision is arrived at, even as preparations of the electoral rolls will be completed by the end of July.
IT initiatives
Several other IT initiatives are also being taken by the State Election Commission. These include preparing a mobile application to offer information related to the MCG elections and studying Internet voting systems in countries such as Germany.
Linking Aadhaar with the voter ID cards, however, would be a mammoth exercise involving the district administration, UIDAI, Haryana government and the Election Commission. It will help weed out bogus voters, said an Haryana Election Commission official on condition of anonymity.
