We have seen the implications of earlier attempt to link Aadhaar with electoral rolls and the damage done. The nature, functions and objectives of both Aadhaar and the Voter ID have been different and linking the two may sound illogical. Experts believe that any attempt to link both may further aggravate the problems and complicate the veracity of electoral rolls and election process.
According to Sanjay Hegde, senior Supreme Court lawyer, “The Aadhar eco-system is designed to leave an identifiable digital footprint, on any transaction where it is made compulsory to use. Linking Aadhar to voting process will violate the secrecy of the ballot, which is integral to voting. Right now the system can only show whether a voter has cast a vote or not. Linking voting to Aadhar, will render tokens that can tell time of voting, which when correlated with booth level data, can possibly accurately determine voting preference.”
Hegde added, “In addition, making voting Aadhar-dependent, also risks largescale locking out of voting systems, based on religion or caste or other such metrics. Voting is a right and not an entitlement or benefit, for which Aadhar number can be required to be produced.”
Jagdeep S. Chhokar, former professor, dean and director in-charge of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), and a founder-member of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), while talking to Radiance said, “Earlier also attempts were made to link Aadhaar with voter card but the Supreme Court had opposed it by saying that Aadhaar card is only for services and direct benefit transfer and there is no question of linking it with Voter ID card. And therefore it was stopped. And now, again the Election Commission has been advised by the government to start the linking process. Earlier, when last time it was linked in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, lakhs of people’s names from the rolls got deleted and the issue was raised at that point of time. In Karnataka also around 50 lakh names were deleted and later on from those deleted 13 lakhs names were added and a lot of mischief took place.”
He added, “My argument is even Aadhaar is not that reliable and there is a lot of problems in Aadhaar itself which UAIDA has also accepted on many occasions and had said that they are trying to fix those problems and work is in progress. If there is problem in Aadhaar itself, how can it address the issue of electoral rolls as claimed by the Election Commission earlier? It sounds illogical and I believe that instead of solving any problem or rather improving the accuracy of the electoral rolls, it is further likely to complicate the issue. We also have Supreme Court order on the issue.”
“There is also a conceptual problem. Aadhaar card is called a proof of identity and perhaps residence whereas voter card is a proof of citizenship. Citizenship and identity are two different things and linking them would be illogical. Citizenship gives different kind of rights and that is right to vote which is a statutory right and it is not the case with Aadhaar. Aadhaar is also not like credit card but it has to be matched to cast vote. As far as I have seen even in Delhi as my experience, my own fingerprints on most occasions do not match and it takes a lot of time to match the fingerprints. If such process will be conducted in villages where there is no electricity, how will they vote? If both are linked, there is greater possibility that many people will get disenfranchised and be deprived of their voting rights,” said Professor Chhokar.
“For example, if I am not educated and go to vote in a village. When I show my voter id card, the returning officer will see it in his register and may say the name is not available and will ask to show Aadhaar. I will then give my Aadhaar to him then he will match my fingerprints and it may take 10-15 minutes. People who are in long queue will start shouting. If they say the fingerprints have not matched, what will then I do? Also, what would be the reliability of Aadhaar card if it is obtained in even five minutes?
“Also earlier it was debated for one nation one election, it was got subdued after two-three years and now I believe that linking Aadhaar with voter card is a step forward towards one nation one election. I believe that by linking both the mistakes of electoral rolls will get compounded because the mistakes of Aadhaar data set will also get into the electoral rolls data set. In this complication it is possible that some groups of people may be disenfranchised accidently and some systemically,” he argued.
Further, more than 100 former bureaucrats and diplomats in a statement issued have expressed concern against the move of the Central government to link the electoral roll with the Aadhaar eco-system while arguing that it may hamper the independence of the Election Commission of India.
“The requirement of Aadhaar verification, even if voluntary, from a prospective or registered voter implies the superimposition of a government-issued identity card for identity and address verification that could seriously undermine the independence and integrity of the ECI and cast doubts on the fairness of the entire electoral process,” stated the statement issued by the former officials of the Central and the state governments, including the likes of Anita Agnihotri, Salahuddin Ahmad, V S Ailawadi, S P Ambrose. In it they have argued that Voter ID is issued on the basis of citizenship while Aadhaar is issued on the basis of identity.
“Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, is clear that Aadhaar may not be used as proof of address, age, gender, citizenship or relationship. Even if it is argued that voter IDs may be wrongly issued to non-citizens, the verification by Aadhaar in no way solves this vexing problem; in fact, it is quite likely that even non-citizens may be registered as voters if Aadhaar is used as the only proof,” the group said in a statement.