Linking Aadhaar with voter ID is voluntary, yet forms for registering electors does not clearly indicate this.
The Election Commission of India (EC) proposed amendments to make it clear that providing Aadhaar is optional, which the Union Law Ministry reportedly rejected.
The initiative to link Aadhaar with voter IDs began in February 2015, aiming to eliminate fake or duplicate electoral roll entries.
The drive was halted in August 2015 following a Supreme Court (SC) ruling restricting Aadhaar's use to specific government schemes.
By the time the drive was paused, 38 crore Aadhaar details had been collected.
In 2019, the EC advocated for Aadhaar linkage again, leading to the passage of Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, by the Parliament.
The bill allowed the EC to resume collecting Aadhaar numbers from July 2022 on a voluntary basis.
A new Form 6B was introduced for existing electors to volunteer their Aadhaar numbers, with amendments made to the form for new registrations.
But there was lack of an option for electors who does not wish to link their Aadhaar with their voter ID.
The EC suggested to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and registration forms to remove this requirement, but the government did not supported it.