In 2014, the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted two pilot programmes on linking the voter id with Aadhaar in the districts of Nizamabad and Hyderabad.
The ECI launched the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) on April 2015.
However a Supreme Court order on August 2015 halted the programme.
Unfortunately Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had nearly completed it for all residents.
How did they link both data?
Methodology used in NERPAP involves use of the State Resident Data Hub (SRDH) application of the Government of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to curate electoral rolls.
It is supplied by the UIDAI or collected further by the State governments.
SRDH gives the States information on residents without biometrics
UIDAI is also restricted to collect data on caste, religion and other sensitive information data for Aadhaar
However states can collect this information, if required, as part of Aadhaar data collection. It termed the process as Know Your Resident (KYR) and Know Your Resident Plus (KYR+).
How did ECI use this data?
ECI used these SRDH applications to curate electoral rolls which resulted in the deletion of a sizeable number of voters from the list in Telangana in 2018.
It is not just Telangana but across India; the ECI has already linked Aadhaar and voter IDs of close to 30 crore people resulting in voter deletions (Unstarred question 2673, Rajya Sabha of January 2019).
Why the Aadhaar - voter ID link must be stopped?
No Door to Door verification - An RTI data shows that the door-to-door verification will get subsumed now.
Affects universal adult suffrage - A software algorithm commissioned by the Government is maintained by a private IT company now.
ECI subjecting key electoral rolls to surveillance software damages the concept of universal adult suffrage.
Experience in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh highlights voter suppression and disenfranchisement.
Compromises secret ballot system - The linking of was primarily to build a biometric dependent voting system from the very beginning.
A mock election was conducted in Telangana by the State Election Commission with smartphones using facial recognition, voter ID, Aadhaar number and phone number for authentication while voting.
This method can kill the “secret ballot system”.
In E-voting malware can be used to change the outcome of an election.
While the present Bill does not look into large-scale e-voting, there is an issue of ensuring electoral integrity.
Profiling of people - The linkage will help political parties create voter profiles and influence the voting process.
An edge for Parties in Power - Online trends on the day of voting and micro-targeting voters using their data will make it easier for political parties in power to use data for elections.
A ruling coalition will always have an advantage with the data it possesses. It can announce welfare schemes based on beneficiaries.
Issue of Fake Aadhaar - Aadhaar itself has several fake and duplicate names. This will create complexities in the voter databases that will be hard to fix.
This process will introduce errors in electoral rolls and vastly impact India’s electoral democracy.
