Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2021
Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2021 is a law passed by Parliament that changed the rules on electoral rolls. It made three main changes:
- it allowed voluntary linking of Aadhaar with voter registration, under Section 23 of the RPA 1950;
- it created four qualifying dates a year for enrolment, instead of one, so new voters can register sooner after turning 18;
- it replaced "wife" with "spouse" for service voters, such as soldiers, so the husbands of women service voters can also enrol.
It matters because it aims to make rolls cleaner and enrolment easier.
Example
Under the Act, no one's name can be refused or deleted from the roll just for not giving Aadhaar, if there is "sufficient cause". In 2023, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court in the G. Niranjan case that Aadhaar linking is not mandatory.
Don't confuse with
- Special Intensive Revision (SIR): this is an ECI drive to re-check electoral rolls. The 2021 Act is a law passed by Parliament.