Row over voter rolls
The Election Commission of India (ECI), which completed 75 years of its existence in January, finds itself inundated with complaints by Opposition parties regarding discrepancies in electoral rolls and duplication of EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card) numbers. These issues, if not resolved in a time-bound manner, threaten to vitiate the entire poll process in the world’s biggest democracy. Considering the seriousness of the allegations, the Chief Election Commissioner has convened a high-level meeting on March 18 to discuss the matter of linking voter identity cards with Aadhaar.
It is commendable that India’s electorate is nearing the 100-crore mark. However, there are genuine doubts about whether all these people are unique voters. The ECI has stated that while EPIC numbers of some voters may be identical, other specifics — demographic details, Assembly constituency, polling booth, etc — are different. This assurance alone is not enough. A nationwide exercise should be carried out to ensure that all voters have a unique EPIC number. Also, close coordination is required between the ECI and the electoral registration officers of various states and UTs. It is apparent that there have been lapses on the part of some of these officers while they were independently managing voter databases.
The existing electoral law allows voluntary seeding of voter rolls with the Aadhaar database. The government has said that the names of those who do not link their Aadhaar details with the voters’ list will not be struck off the electoral rolls. The way forward is to ensure maximum linkage without resorting to coercive action. There is no doubt that Aadhaar, as a unique identifier, has empowered Indian citizens by making the delivery of various services transparent and accessible. Aadhaar has an equally important role to play in weeding out duplicate voters. A government that is keen on ‘One Nation, One Election’ should first focus on the basic issues that concern voters and political parties before contemplating a major reform.
