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Cabinet Clears Draft Bill for Linking Aadhaar & Voter ID

  • 18 Dec 2021

On 15th 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.