Election Commission: Over 50 per cent voters have linked Aadhaar, Voter ID

More than half of all Indian electors have so far linked their Aadhaar numbers with their Voter IDs as a part of the Election Commission of India’s special drive that was started on August 1, EC officials said Friday.

Out of the around 95 crore registered electors, “55 crore to 56 crore” had already provided their Aadhaar details for linking with the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) voluntarily, an official said. The exact number of electors in the country would be known with the publication of the electoral roll at the end of the ongoing special summary revision on January 5, 2023. The EC official said the ongoing revision of the electoral roll involved deleting duplicate entries.

The ECI launched the drive on August 1 after the government amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950 to enable the ECI to collect Aadhaar numbers of registered electors through a form, Form 6B, last year.

Notified on December 30, 2021, the Act came into effect on August 1. The government also notified April 1, 2023 as the last date that electors “may” furnish their Aadhaar details.