After PAN, now Voter ID will also be linked to Aadhaar, Election Commission took decision
The way to link Aadhaar and Voter ID (EPIC) has been cleared. In an important meeting held on Tuesday, the Election Commission of the country has given permission to link these two. In this regard, a statement has been issued by the Election Commission saying that EPIC will be linked to Aadhaar as per Article 326 of the Constitution and Sections 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act.
Earlier, the government had decided to Link PAN card to Aadhaar
The statement said that the Election Commission will take steps to link EPIC with Aadhaar card as per Section 326 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the relevant decisions of the Supreme Court. CEC Gyanesh Kumar led ECs Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi along with Union Home Secretary-Secretary, Legislative Department, Secretary MeitY and CEO UIDAI and technical experts of ECI today held a meeting at Nirvachan Sadan.
Right to vote is available only to citizens of India
As per Article 326 of the Constitution of India, the right to vote can be given only to a citizen of India; Aadhaar card only establishes the identity of a person. Therefore, it was decided that linking of EPIC with Aadhaar card will be done as per the provisions of Article 326 of the Constitution, Sections 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court in WP (Civil) No. 177/2023. Now technical consultation between technical experts of UIDAI and ECI will be started soon.
This Step Will help in identifying fake voters
Actually, the Election Commission had recently decided that it will issue new EPIC numbers to voter IDs with duplicate numbers within the next three months. The Election Commission had said that having a duplicate number does not mean fake voter. The main purpose behind linking Aadhaar card with EPIC is to remove the error in the voter list and make it clean. The Election Commission believes that this step will help in identifying fake voters.
Link Voter ID Card With Aadhaar
Another reason behind linking Aadhaar card to voter ID is that it can curb fake voting. After this system comes into effect, the possibility of a person casting vote at multiple places will end and the election process will become more transparent.