[dropcap]O[/dropcap]OVER 200 public-spirited individuals have written a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to warn against the dangers contained in a petition before the Delhi High Court seeking an e-voting system using fingerprint and face biometrics and for that purpose, linking Aadhaar numbers with voter IDs. The high court has issued directions in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India, asking the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider the plea within eight weeks.
Urging the ECI to seek a dismissal of the Upadhyay petition, the individuals said that Aadhaar linkage would harm the right to vote that Indian citizens have under our democracy, flowing from the Constitution and the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
While the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 currently limited universal adult suffrage to Indian citizens (including non-resident Indians (NRIs) still holding an Indian passport), the letter pointed out that under Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, the Aadhaar number or authentication did not constitute proof of citizenship. Therefore, “linking of Aadhaar number with voter ID would effectively be an exercise involving significant public expense and yielding no benefit whatsoever in determining the genuineness of voters”.
Warning that the linking would not just “weaken and contaminate” the Indian electoral system but also harm the functioning of our democracy, the individuals reminded the ECI of the many instances where Aadhaar IDs had been found with non-nationals or there had been blatantly incorrect and fake enrolments.
“We also ask the Hon’ble Commission to recollect the disastrous outcome of the previous exercise of Aadhaar-Voter ID linking conducted as part of the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Program (NERPAP) in 2015, due to which at least 30 lakh voters disenfranchised. As that exercise demonstrates, carrying out timely door-to-door verification of voters is as yet the most effective method of updating electoral rolls and ensuring accuracy of voter data,” they said.
“We would like to point out that not only does possessing an Aadhaar number fail to qualify the number holder’s eligibility to vote, biometric-linked authentication would, on the contrary, disenfranchise many rightful voters, in particular, the elderly, manual labourers, and those living in areas suffering a lack of electric power and/or network coverage,” the letter said.
