Cabinet Clears Draft Bill for Linking Aadhaar & Voter ID

• 18 Dec 2021

On 15^th December, 2021, the Union Cabinet cleared a bill on electoral reforms, news agency PTI reported.

• The Election Commission has been pushing for key electoral reforms, including linking Aadhaar numbers to the electoral roll, making paid news an electoral offence, increasing the punishment for filing a false affidavit.

Key Provisions

• It will amend the representation of people act and allow four qualifying dates in a year rather than one, for those who are above 18 years, to register as a voter.
• The electoral law will be made “gender-neutral” for service voters.
• It seeks to empower the EC to requisition premises for any purpose related to election.
• It will allow the Election Commission to seed the Aadhaar number with electoral rolls on a voluntary basis.

Impact

• Check on Fake Voter ID: Aadhaar- voter id linkage will help to eliminate all the fake Voter ID Cards and put a check on the growing population of defunct and fake voters across the country.
• Securing Electronic Voting: Further, it will help to work towards secure electronic voting for migrant workers.