SIR: Voters without Aadhaar unable to submit Form-6, risks exclusion
The Election Commission of India's digital enrollment app is preventing voters without Aadhaar cards from registering, despite official guidelines stating Aadhaar is not mandatory. Booth Level Officers report that the app's mandatory OTP authentication creates a technical barrier that risks excluding vulnerable populations from the electoral roll.
Why it matters
This highlights a critical gap between digital policy and implementation, potentially disenfranchising marginalized citizens who lack formal identification.
While Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines categorically clarify that an Aadhaar card is “not mandatory” for submitting Form-6 — the form required for inclusion in the electoral roll — voters without Aadhaar are at risk of being left out, as the option to enroll a voter without Aadhaar is not enabled on the ECI’s Booth Level Officer (BLO) App.
As per ECI guidelines, while filing Form-6, a voter can either provide their Aadhaar details or indicate that they do not have an Aadhaar number. The form itself has a provision for this (marked as Option E). However, the BLO app provides an ‘E-sign’ option, for which an OTP is generated on the mobile number linked to Aadhaar. This creates a hurdle for those who do not possess Aadhaar at all, as BLOs say they are unable to accept and digitise such applications through the app.
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