'EC to start campaign to link Voter ID with Aadhaar card from 1 August,' says Maha Chief Election Officer

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Election Officer (CEO) Shrikant Deshpande on Monday said that the Voter ID cards will be linked to Aadhaar cards with a view to establishing the identity of electors and authentication of entries in the electoral roll. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Deshpande said linking Voter ID with an Aadhaar card will help in the identification of registration of the name of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency. “Voter ID cards to be linked to Aadhaar card with a view to establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in the electoral roll and to identify registration of the name of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency,” he said. The Election Commission of India will start a campaign to link Voter ID cards with Aadhaar cards from 1 August, across the state, Deshpande said. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, authorising the linking of Aadhaar with Voter IDs, was passed by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote in December 2021. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court asked Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala to approach the Delhi High Court with his plea challenging the Election Law Amendment Act that enables linking electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna granted liberty to Surjewala to move to the High Court. “Since the PIL petitioner challenges the validity of Section 4 and 5 of the Election Law Amendment Act an efficacious alternate remedy is before the High Court. we grant liberty to move High court under article 226,” the bench said in its order. The Congress leader, in his plea, said that the linkage of Aadhaar and Voter ID is completely “irrational” because the impugned amendment intends to link two completely distinct documents, the Aadhaar Card being a proof of residency and EPIC/Voter ID being a proof of citizenship.