By Agencies
NEW DELHI: The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication, was passed in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.
Introducing the bill, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.
However, opposition parties led by Congress opposed the bill, saying it will infringe the fundamental rights of citizens.
They also alleged that the bill will violate the Supreme Court judgement on Aadhaar.
The bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing the identity”.
Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the chair, accepted the introduction of the bill after taking voice votes.
According to the Bill circulated to Lok Sabha members ahead of its introduction, various sections of the Representation of the People Act will be amended.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that Section 23 of the RP Act will be amended to allow linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem “to curb the menace of multiple enrolments of the same person in different places”.
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Amendment to Section 14 of the RP Act will allow having four “qualifying” dates for eligible people to register as voters.
As of now, January 1 of every year is the sole qualifying date. People who turn 18 on or before January 1 can register as voters.
Those turning 18 after that have to wait for one whole year to register as voters.
Now, “the 1st day of January, 1st day of April, 1st day of July and 1st day of October in a calendar year” will be the qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls.
Amendment to Section 20 of the RP Act, 1950 and Section 60 of the RP Act, 1951 will allow the elections become gender-neutral for service voters.
The amendment will also help replace the word “wife” with the word “spouse” making the statutes “gender-neutral”.
An Armyman’s wife is entitled to be enrolled as a service voter, but a woman Army officer’s husband is not, according to provisions in the electoral law.
With “wife” being replaced by the term “spouse”, this will change.
Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh in October.
