Voters who refuse to disclose their Aadhaar number may soon face additional scrutiny from the Election Commission of India. The poll body has proposed a new policy that will see such individuals appear before the Electoral Registration Officer to explain their reasoning. The move is intended to categorically clarify that sharing Aadhaar number is a ‘voluntary’ exercise and fulfill the poll body’s commitments before the Supreme Court.
According to an Indian Express report, the proposal was recently discussed during a high-level meeting that included representatives from the Home, Law and IT Ministries as well as UIDAI. The change is likely to be implemented ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections in late 2025 through an amendment to Form 6B. Such a change will have to be notified by the Law Ministry through a Gazette notification once the EC sends a formal proposal to the Central government.
The poll body had earlier told the Supreme Court that it would make “clarificatory” changes to its forms for new voters in order to reiterate that sharing of Aadhaar details was ‘optional’. EC has gathered the Aadhaar details of more than 66 crore voters till 2023 through ‘voluntary’ disclosures.
What is Form 6B?
Form 6B was introduced to collect Aadhaar numbers from voters for the ‘purpose of electoral roll authentication’. The application however includes only two options for disclosure — to either share the 12 digit number or claim that the voter did not have an Aadhaar number.
The proposal discussed on March 18 suggested that the latter would be removed from the form. Instead, voters would be asked to provide an alternate document and appear before the ERO on a given date to explain why Aadhaar details were not being shared. The Electoral Registration Officer is typically a civil service or revenue officer who is empowered to prepare, update and revise the electoral rolls for various constituencies.