Election Commission of India to synchronize Aadhaar with EPIC by 2016

The Election Commission of India has devised a plan to “embed” and synchronize the Aadhaar database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) to help prevent duplication or forgery at election polls, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Chief Election Commissioner H S Brahma said the poll panel has already begun the process by coordinating with the Aadhaar’s parent body UIDAI. He anticipates the plan to be fully implemented by early 2016.

“We have decided to embed the Aadhaar data on our platform of the EPIC,” said Brahma. “The EPIC is given to every eligible voter of the country. Once we are able to do this, we will have a 100 percent purity of the (electoral) rolls.

“Once these two data come together there will be correct name, biometrics and address of an individual. The day we do that, 99 percent of complaints of political parties and candidates about electoral rolls will disappear. This should be done within the next 8-9 months or early 2016.”

The Aadhaar database stores all biometric data and other important details of an individual.

Currently, only 55 crore (550 million) of the total 84 crore (840 million) eligible voters in the country actually vote, said Brahma. The CEC hopes its plan to synchronize the Aadhaar database with the electorial photo ID card will help boost voter participation.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam supports the CEC’s vision of elections and said that “bringing these systems on the Internet is no longer a dream and technical interface will ensure larger participation of voters.”

Previously reported, India’s Election Commission said that it will now use a voter’s 12-digit biometric-based Aadhaar number while updating electoral rolls across the country in an effort to curb fraudulent voting.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometric database  |  biometrics  |  elections  |  EPIC  |  fraud prevention  |  voter identification