EC set to tap UIDAI to iron out EPIC-Aadhaar linkage wrinkles

NEW DELHI: Election Commission will begin

technical consultations

with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) soon to sort out issues in linking electors' photo identity card (EPIC) with Aadhaar, including those arising from different eligibility criteria and purposes served by the two documents, reports Bharti Jain.
The decision to start discussions was taken at a meeting held on Tuesday by the commission, represented by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi; secretaries of ministry of home affairs, legislative department and ministry of electronics and IT (MeiTY); and UIDAI chief executive officer, besides technical experts from both EC and UIDAI.
While an EPIC can only be issued to a person who fulfils the criteria outlined by Article 326 - being an Indian citizen, age 18 years and above, ordinarily resident in the polling booth where registering, and not disqualified from voting under any law on grounds of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice - Aadhaar only establishes identity of a person through photograph and biometrics like fingerprints and iris scan.
Technical consultations seek to devise a foolproof system such that a person cannot claim voting right solely on the basis of Aadhaar. Only if the person fulfils all criteria under Article 326 can he vote, with Aadhaar use limited to establishing identity .

It said the linking of EPIC with Aadhaar will be done only as per Article 326; Section 23(4), 23(5) and 23(6) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1950; and SC judgement in writ petition (civil) No. 177/2023. SC had disposed of the plea seeking contempt proceedings against EC, after the latter clarified that furnishing Aadhaar number was not mandatory and that it would revisit the statutory forms to clear any confusion.