Telangana CEO urged to remove mandatory Aadhaar e-Sign for online voter registration

The office of Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy in Hyderabad has received representations seeking the removal of mandatory e-Sign and Aadhaar linking requirements for online voter registrations.

The representations come as online enumeration form registrations in the state crossed the one-lakh mark, sparking concerns over potential voter exclusion. Critics argue that the current online registration architecture forces an e-Sign requirement, which frequently requires an active Aadhaar linkage.

This mandate allegedly contradicts the Election Commission of India's (ECI) position that Aadhaar is voluntary and serves only as an identity document, not as proof of citizenship, domicile, or date of birth. Opponents worry that rigid Aadhaar-based authentication could lead to the rejection, delay, or non-processing of genuine applications.

M.A. Mujeeb Ayyub, the founder of ADALAH – Access to Justice Network, stated that the objective of electoral verification can be achieved without compulsory Aadhaar e-authentication. He noted that applicants should be allowed to establish identity, residence, family lineage, and legacy electoral linkage through alternative documents and field verification. He warned that excessive reliance on rigid Aadhaar-based matching could unintentionally exclude genuine electors with long-standing electoral histories.

P. Rajesh Kumar, chairman of the PCC Election Commission Coordination Committee, also submitted a representation seeking alternative verification methods. He suggested allowing scanned self-attested documents, such as passports or proof of age and residence. Kumar highlighted that the e-Sign mandate creates a bottleneck, particularly for non-resident Indians (NRIs) who hold valid Indian passports but lack active Aadhaar cards or linked mobile numbers to receive one-time passwords (OTPs).

Digital privacy advocate and tech researcher Srinivas Kodali recalled previous voter exclusions in the state, noting that the combined office of the CEO of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh deleted 40 lakh voters in Telangana in 2015 based on Aadhaar-voter ID linking. That exercise was stopped by the Supreme Court, but it left lakhs of people unable to vote in the 2018 Telangana Assembly polls.