Linking Aadhaar to your electoral roll entry is done with Form 6B. The most important thing to know is that the Election Commission describes it as voluntary, and has told the Supreme Court that giving the number is not mandatory. The law also protects anyone who does not have an Aadhaar number from being refused registration or removed from the roll.
What the law actually says
Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, added by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows an Electoral Registration Officer to ask for a person’s Aadhaar number to establish their identity, and to ask people already on the roll for it to authenticate their entries. The Act itself does not use the word “voluntary”, but Section 23(5) says people already on the roll “may” give the number, and the Law Ministry told the Lok Sabha in December 2022 that the Act allows it to be sought on a voluntary basis. Collection began on 1 August 2022.
The safeguard is in Section 23(6) of the same Act: no application for inclusion may be refused, and no existing entry deleted, because a person cannot give an Aadhaar number for a reason set out in the rules. Such a person may give another listed document instead. The only reason the forms set out is not having an Aadhaar number.
The Election Commission says so more plainly than the Act. Its instructions to Chief Electoral Officers of 4 July 2022 describe giving the number as purely voluntary for electors. On 18 September 2023 it told the Supreme Court that giving the number is not mandatory under Rule 26B of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and that it was looking into clarifying the forms. By 24 September 2026 the printable Forms 6 and 6B on its portal had not changed: they still offer only two choices, to give the number or to state that you do not have one.
If anyone tells you that your name will be struck off unless you link Aadhaar, that is wrong.
If you do not have an Aadhaar number
Form 6B has a box to state that you cannot give an Aadhaar number because you do not have one, and to attach a copy of one of 11 listed documents instead: an MGNREGA job card, a bank or post office passbook with photograph, a health insurance smart card issued under a Ministry of Labour scheme, a driving licence, a PAN card, a smart card issued by the Registrar General of India under the National Population Register, an Indian passport, a pension document with photograph, a service identity card with photograph issued by a government, public sector undertaking or public limited company, an official identity card issued to an MP, MLA or MLC, or a UDID card issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The forms have no box for someone who has an Aadhaar number but prefers not to give it. The Commission’s answers to voters’ frequently asked questions say that the Aadhaar field is voluntary, and that leaving it out is not a ground for rejecting an application.
Filing online is a different matter. Since September 2025, online applications on Forms 6, 7 and 8 have been signed with an Aadhaar e-sign, using a one-time password sent to the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar. The portal says the e-sign is optional, and that if you do not use it you can hand in the paper form instead. So in practice, without Aadhaar, you apply on paper. The paper Forms 6 and 8 keep the option to state that you do not have a number, and the paper Form 7 does not ask for Aadhaar at all.
What it is for
The stated purpose is authentication of entries, principally to identify the same person registered in more than one place. Duplicate entries can arise honestly, for example when someone registers afresh after moving instead of filing Form 8 to shift their entry.
It is not a change to who may vote. Eligibility still rests on citizenship, age and ordinary residence.
Two things to be clear-eyed about
Consent cannot be withdrawn. There is no provision for taking back an Aadhaar number once given through Form 6B. Treat it as a one-way decision.
The number must not be published. Section 37 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 applies, and Aadhaar numbers are required to be removed or masked in any public display of the roll. If you find one exposed, that is a reportable failure.
How to file it, if you choose to
The printable Form 6B is on the Commission’s portal at voters.eci.gov.in. You can hand it to your Booth Level Officer or the Electoral Registration Officer’s office. When we checked on 24 September 2026, Form 6B was not among the forms offered for online filing on the portal’s home page. You will need your EPIC number.
Use only the ECI domain. An Aadhaar number handed to a third-party site that offers to link it for you is a serious thing to lose control of.
If you have already linked and have concerns
There is no mechanism to withdraw the consent given through Form 6B, so the realistic options are narrower than people hope.
What you can do is check what is actually published. Your Aadhaar number should not appear in any public copy of the electoral roll, in a downloadable part list, or on a state Chief Electoral Officer’s website. If you find it exposed, raise it with the Electoral Registration Officer for your constituency and with the Commission, because publication is a failure of an obligation that exists in law.
Your entry itself is unaffected either way. Linking does not change your constituency, your part and serial number, or your polling station.
Correction, 24 September 2026: This article previously said the law protects anyone who is unable or unwilling to give an Aadhaar number, and that Form 6B lets you decline. Section 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 protects people who cannot give a number for a reason set out in the rules, and the only reason the forms set out is not having one. The Election Commission describes giving the number as voluntary, and told the Supreme Court in September 2023 that it is not mandatory. We have corrected this, completed the list of alternative documents, updated how to file Form 6B, and added that online applications now use an Aadhaar e-sign.
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Published 13 September 2026 · Last updated 24 September 2026
