I was travelling in a cab on 18-Apr-2019. Asked the driver if he cast his vote. He answered that he did prefer any of the candidates, so why make a trip to his hometown to caste a NOTA vote.
What is NOTA
The acronym NOTA stands for “None of the Above”, has become popular with the recent Elections. However it’s origins start way back from 1976 in the United States in State of Nevada with the option of “None of these candidates”. It was long opposed by Governments until 2009. An NGO filed for PIL and got this finally added. And subsequent to this NOTA was introduced starting from 2013 Elections. (source: Quora)
Further to this, Hon’ble Supreme Court in their judgment dated 21.08.2018 in WP (C) no. 631 of 2017 (Shailesh Manubhai Parmar Vs. ECI & Ors.) has directed that None of the Above (NOTA) option should not be made applicable for elections to Council of States. It has been held that NOTA should be provided only in direct elections (election to Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies).
Advantages of NOTA
- This adds to the power of democracy. Citizens have the right to say that they don’t prefer any of the candidates listed on the ballot paper or the Electronic Voting Machine.
- It prevents false voting. Citizens who did not prefer any of the candidates did not cast their vote prior to NOTA. This potentially leads to false votes being cast.
Voting is the legal right of every Citizen above 18 years of age. In many other countries it is a fundamental right. We should make this a fundamental right so that it cannot be easily amended by any Law enacted by Legislature.
Suggested enhancements on NOTA
These some few suggestions to empower the Citizens of India for electing their Leaders. This will make it revolutionary and empower Citizens to voice out their opinion and realize the Democracy.
- Disqualify the Election in the Electoral Constituency if NOTA votes exceeds a given percentage. Sounds logical right?, however what happens today is quite different, the candidate who gets maximum number of votes outside the NOTA wins the election.
- Citizens did not prefer the candidates, so why allow them to contest again. Disqualify them for the next election, setup a stringent process so they can win the confidence of people before accepting their candidature in next round of elections.
This is just a beginning, with more creative imagination, we need to empower the citizens with powerful tools like NOTA so common man is empowered and can willingly participate in democracy.
Sources and Additional Reading
Graph – NOTA Votes Polled in state Election Oct 2013 to Dec 2016 – https://eci.gov.in/files/file/5548-graph-nota-votes-polled-in-state-election-oct-2013-to-dec-2016/
Provision for “None of the above” (NOTA) option on ballot paper for elections to Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Council-withdrawing the provision-reg. – https://eci.gov.in/files/file/8104-provision-for-none-of-the-above-nota-option-on-ballot-paper-for-elections-to-rajya-sabha-and-state-legislative-council-withdrawing-the-provision-reg/
Map – NOTA Votes polled (%) – Lok Sabha 2014 –
https://eci.gov.in/files/file/5534-map-nota-votes-polled-lok-sabha-2014/
Quora – When was NOTA first introduced –
https://www.quora.com/Which-country-used-NOTA-for-the-first-time-1
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