The Central Government has extended the deadline for linking Aadhaar number with voter ID to March 31, 2024.

The last date to link voter ID with Aadhaar was April 1, 2023.

A gazette notification by the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that applications for including names in the electoral roll shall not be denied. It further said that entries will not be deleted from the electoral roll if a voter fails to show an Aadhaar number. 

According to an official release, people can now complete the process of linking Aadhaar with voter Id for another year as the new deadline is March 31, 2024.

The Ministry of Law and Justice, in a notification said, “The Central Government hereby makes the following amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department), number S.O.2893(E), dated 17th June 2022, namely:- In the said notification, for the words and figures, “the 1st April 2023” for the words and figures, “the 31st March , 2024” shall be substituted.”

Earlier, the Election Commission of India (ECI) directed everyone to link their Voter ID card with their Aadhaar card under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, adopted by the parliament in December 2021.

The idea behind linking the two identification cards is to validate entries in the electoral roll, authenticate identity of voters, and check whether someone is registered in the same constituency more than once or in multiple constituencies. Several campaigns were also launched in this regard by the ECI.