WHY IN NEWS:
The Election Commission of India (ECI)’s renewed push to link Aadhaar with voter ID endangers the right to vote
Right to vote:
- Linking Aadhaar to voter ID threatens universal suffrage and constitutional guarantees.
- Aadhaar is a residency-based system, not proof of citizenship (Section 9). Its use is restricted under Section 7 for welfare programs.
Supreme Court rulings:
- Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2018): Restricted Aadhaar’s scope to welfare purposes.
- Lal Babu Hussein v. Electoral Registration Officer (1995): Mandated procedural fairness for deletion from electoral rolls.
Risks and Issues – Disenfranchisement:
- Documented mass voter deletion (e.g., 55 lakh voters in 2015 due to Aadhaar mismatches in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh).
- Coercion and accessibility: Form 6B and the requirement to physically justify opting out of Aadhaar linkage disproportionately affect marginalized groups such as elderly, disabled, and migrant workers.
- Database unreliability: Issues identified by the 2022 CAG Performance Audit, including duplication and faulty data.
Privacy and Surveillance Risks
- Dragnet surveillance: Potential voter profiling and misuse of linked data due to exemptions in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
- Political manipulation: Risks of micro-targeting voters, suppressing opposition strongholds, and exploiting electoral rolls for partisan outcomes.
Institutional Concerns
- Separation of powers: Entrusting electoral data to UIDAI undermines the Election Commission of India’s constitutional independence.
- Systemic errors: Aadhaar linkage introduces flawed mechanisms for voter verification