EC mandates Aadhaar-linked phone verification for online voter deletion, correction requests: Report

The Election Commission of India (EC) has rolled out a new e-sign verification feature on its ECINet portal and app, requiring applicants for voter registration, corrections, or deletions to use their Aadhaar-linked mobile number during the submission process, according to a media report.

This change comes just days after Rahul Gandhi alleged large-scale misuse of online deletion forms in Karnataka’s Aland constituency during the 2023 elections, claiming that identities of actual voters were exploited to delete their names.

Under the earlier system, applicants could link a phone number with their Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and submit forms without verification that the mobile number or Aadhaar details truly belonged to them.

Now, when a user fills Form 6 (new registration), Form 7 (objections/inclusion or deletion), or Form 8 (correction), the portal will prompt them to confirm that their name on the voter card matches the name on their Aadhaar, and that their mobile number is linked to that Aadhaar, The Indian Express has reported.

After filling the form, the user is redirected to an external e-sign portal run by CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing). There, they must enter their Aadhaar number, receive an OTP on the linked mobile number, and consent to Aadhaar authentication before being sent back to complete the form submission.

According to sources cited by the report, the EC considers this new verification step crucial to reducing the risk of misuse as alleged in Aland.

In response to Gandhi’s claims, the Election Commission had earlier clarified that no deletion can be done online by a member of the public without due process.

The EC stated that unsuccessful attempts were made in Aland, but a physical verification of the 6,018 deletion applications found only 24 valid ones; the rest were rejected because the individuals either remained at the same address or the verification failed.

The ECINet portal, launched earlier in 2025, consolidates over 40 earlier apps and portals for voters and officials, replacing systems such as ERONet.

Through ECINet, Electors and Electoral Registration Officers handle all voter registration, deletion, correction, and related processes.