NEW DELHI: Apart from Aadhaar authentication through proposed Aadhaar-voter ID linkage, the EC plans to use image matching with liveliness test and voice biometric authentication to conclusively identify migrant voters as they vote remotely at designated ‘national polling stations’, away from the constituency where they are registered.EC sources had on Tuesday told TOI that the government had indicated to the poll panel that a Cabinet note was being readied proposing suitable amendments in the law to empower EC to link voter ID and Aadhaar number. This would enable the electoral registration officer to identify a voter with his unique 12-digit Aadhaar ID and also allow Aadhaar verification as a prerequisite for the polling agent to identify a person prior to voting.While EC had originally proposed amendments to both R P Act and Aadhaar Act to legally empower itself to link Aadhaar number with voter ID, the latest legal opinion — as indicated by an EC source — states that an amendment to R P Act should suffice without any need to change Aadhaar law. “The SC had in its 2018 verdict called for Aadhaar authentication only with statutory backing. R P Act amendment will offer that statutory backing to EC,” said an officer.As per the scheme drawn up by EC to roll out ‘remote’ voting by persons beyond the boundaries of their own assembly/Lok Sabha constituency, they will be required to indicate to the returning officer an intent to vote remotely so that the EVM vote at their respective polling station can be cancelled. They would then have the option to vote electronically at national polling booths set up at a chosen remote location.Voting shall be done remotely on a secure, standalone and whitelisted computer device deployed by EC. “However, with technical improvements over time, we expect to enable a voter to vote anywhere, anytime and using any device,” said an EC officer.On voting day, three types of technologies are proposed for authentication of ‘remote’ voters. The first involves Aadhaar authentication through biometrics like iris and fingerprints. Second is face recognition technology with in-built liveliness test where a person must move his head as directed to rule out the possibility of his being a photo or wearing a mask. Third is voice biometric authentication. Since Aadhaar does not provide for storage of data, the trail of this voter authentication will be preserved through video recording and webcasting. This will help maintain a record that the same person and not just anybody has voted. An electronic postal ballot will be issued to the voter for his respective constituency along with a QR code . The ballot will be encrypted.A blockchain-enabled controlled environment voting protocol, which is still under R&D stage, may be used by the voter. A hashcode, which will change if the vote is tampered with, will he generated to allow concerned candidates, political parties and returning officers to know that such a voter will be voting remotely for a particular constituency, track that the vote was cast and subsequently tally the same with remote votes up for counting on counting day.