India considering linking voter ID with Aadhar

In this year’s National Voters’ Day celebrations, India’s electoral commission announced that it would start issuing digital voter IDs and also accept e-KYC on the national voters’ services portal. This has been interpreted by analysts as a move to link national voter cards with the national digital ID, Aadhar. 

There have been plans to link national Electoral Photo ID Cards (EPICs) with Aadhar. The 2015 National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) resulted in a significant number of voters being struck off the voters roll. To guard against such disfranchisement, the government has proposed the amendment of two key laws to provide a legal basis for the linkage. Analysts are raising concern that linking EPICs with Aadhar would lock out voters, as Aadhar is not mandatory.