Elections 2023: Is it mandatory to link Voter ID card & Aadhaar? PIB Fact Check clarifies

As several crucial assembly elections will take place in 2023, it is important for the electors to know developments related to Voter ID- a document issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the voters for casting their ballot. 

Recently, a social media post claimed that according to Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, it is mandatory to link Voter ID and Aadhaar.

However, the Press Information Bureau's Fact Check arm called it fake and said that linking an Aadhaar card with a voter ID card is voluntary. 

It is being claimed that as per the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, it is now '𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲' to link Voter ID & Aadhaar#PIBFactCheck

◾️This claim is #Fake
◾️It's '𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲' to link an Aadhaar card with a Voter ID card@ECISVEEP

🔗https://t.co/mtIel6E4s9 pic.twitter.com/tTZ4UukMmB

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck)

According to the Election Commission, "the purpose of collection of Aadhaar from existing electors is to establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in the electoral roll and to identify registration of the name of the same person is more than one constituency or more than once in the state constituency...It is made clear that submission of Aadhaar number is voluntary on the part of electors."

Ahead of the 2024 general elections, assembly elections will take place in nine states- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya- this year.

The ECI has already announced the schedule for assembly elections for Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. Tripura will vote on February 16 while Nagaland and Meghalaya will vote on February 27. Polls in Karnataka could take place in April or early May. 

The term of Mizoram concludes on December 17, while that for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Rajasthan ends on different dates in January 2024. There is a possibility that assembly elections in these states can be held together in December 2023.