New Delhi: The government has issued rules allowing the controversial linking of electoral roll data with Aadhaar.Four notifications were issued under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 passed by parliament late last year to bring in the rules.The legislation has seen steady opposition from civil society. Organisations working in civil rights, electoral reform, academic and digital rights had said that any proposals to link Aadhaar and electoral rolls would need careful and considerable public consultation.Law Minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to announce that four notifications in this regard have been issued in consultation with the Election Commission.The government has claimed that sharing of Aadhaar details will be voluntary.The Election Laws (Amendment) Act technically seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek Aadhaar numbers of people who want to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing the identity”.Also read: Aadhaar Link Threatens Sanctity of Electoral RollsIt also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers from “persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in the electoral roll, and to identify registration of the name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency”.At the same time, the bill says, “no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed”.In an interview to PTI on May 14, the then chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra had said that while sharing Aadhaar details will be voluntary for voters, but those not doing so will have to give “sufficient reasons”.Internet Freedom Foundation’s Apar Gupta tweeted on the clause, noting that there is a visible absence of choice when it comes to providing Aadhaar details.There is an absence of choice in the forms to the provision of Aadhaar. The only exception is for those who, “don’t have a Aadhaar number”. Any false declaration is liable to prosecution. Hence, there is a mandatory provision for Aadhaar with electoral rolls. https://t.co/jwydzlYxd4— Apar (@apar1984) June 18, 2022The Wire has earlier reported on how no fewer than 14 organisations, including Rethink Aadhaar, Association for Democratic Reforms, Bahujan Economists, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, the Internet Freedom Foundation, MKSS and National Alliance of People’s Movements have released a statement opposing the plan and saying that it could lead to “mass disenfranchisement.”“Rigorous identification requirements which act as a barrier to people being able to exercise their right to vote, are rightly termed as voter suppression measures which strike at the heart of a democracy, and should not be allowed in a democracy. The right to political participation is, at least, a constitutional right, and a right under international human rights law,” they had said.Rijiju shared a chart to say that the notifications will enable “linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places”.Empowering every voter!Hon’ble PM Sh @narendramodi ji’s govt.’s historic step to reform the electoral process. In consultation with the Election Commission of India, Govt. has issued four notifications under The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021.#8YearsOfSeva pic.twitter.com/BIqkc5qQXX— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) June 17, 2022 He also said that now a citizen who turns 18 on the January 1 or April 1 or July 1 or October 1 in a calendar year can immediately apply for voter registration.“The four qualifying dates will considerably enhance the voter base,” he said.As of now, January 1 is the only cut off date to register as a voter.On making electoral law gender neutral, Rijiju said the word “wife” will be substituted with the word “spouse” making the statutes gender neutral which shall allow the wife or husband of a service voter to avail the voting facility available.Soldiers deployed in far flung areas or members of Indian missions abroad are some of the people considered as service voters.An army man’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. But now it will change.The poll panel had asked the law ministry to replace the term wife’ with spouse’ in the provision in the Representation of the People Act related to service voters.Another provision of the proposed bill will allow the youth to enrol as voters on four different dates every year. As of now, those turning 18 on or before January 1 of every year are only allowed to register as voters.Rijiju said the Election Commission can now requisition any premises for storage of poll related material and accommodation for security forces and polling personnel.(With PTI inputs)