Henceforth your Aadhaar will be linked to your Voter ID cards and this was made possible after the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill on electoral reforms. To link the Voter ID with Aadhaar will be done on a voluntary basis to root out multiple enrolments.
This is one of the key proposals that was pushed by the Election Commission of India (ECI). One of the provisions of the bill allows those exercising their franchise for the first time to get as many as four turns to register in a year. Presently, those turning 18 on or before January 1 of every year are only allowed to register as voters once.
The electoral law will also be made gender-neutral for service voters. The bill on these electoral reforms cleared on Wednesday is likely to be introduced in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament. The Election Commission has been pushing for multiple cut-off dates to allow more eligible people to register as voters so that more youngsters can participate in the electoral process.
In June this year, the poll panel had written to the law ministry requesting it to urgently take up these pending electoral reforms. The new voting reforms come at a time when assembly elections in five states are due next year, including the largest state of Uttar Pradesh and the politically important state of Punjab.
As per reports, there were around 40 electoral proposals pending with the government. The Election Commission had in August 2019 proposed wide-ranging electoral reforms, which included remote voting for NRIs and migrant workers and eliminating duplication of voters.
