Aadhaar verdict: Linking with voter cards may resume

A special camp in Chennai to link Aadhaar data with Electoral Voter Identity Cards. File

The Election Commission may resume the voluntary linking of voter identification cards with the Aadhaar database, given that,

prima facie , the judgement by the Supreme Court’s five-judge Bench does not have any adverse remarks on the issue. The Supreme Court had stayed the exercise in 2015. However, more than 30 crore Voter IDs had been linked to Aadhaar by then.

Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat told The Hindu that a decision would be taken after thoroughly examining the Court directive. “We may get a certified copy of the order on Thursday,” he said.

Another official said: “Preliminary findings indicate that the Supreme Court, in its judgement on Aadhaar, has not objected to the voluntary linking of Voter IDs, as earlier requested by the Commission. Therefore, the process can be resumed once it is determined that the judgdment does not have any adverse view on it.”

On February 27, 2015, the Commission had issued guidelines for the voluntary linking of Voter IDs with Aadhaar. The exercise was initiated on March 3 that year. However, while hearing a writ petition, the Supreme Court on August 11, 2015, issued orders that led to the suspension of the process.

The EC official said the electoral body had then requested the Supreme Court for resumption of the linking exercise, citing several reasons.

“It will not only help check duplicate entries in the voters’ list and other such issues related to identification of voters, but may also be of use in providing services like a two-way electronic voting system for the disabled, service voters and migrant workers, as and when the necessary technology is developed in future,” said the official.