WHAT IS NOTA?

The voter has a right to negative voting by rejecting all the

candidates contesting a election which can be exercised by using
the option of None Of The Above(NOTA) in EVMs and ballot
papers.

INTODUCTION OF NOTA IN INDIA

NOTA was introduced in India following the 2013 Supreme Court
directive in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India
judgment.

NOTA button saw its debut in the 2013 Assembly elections held in
four States — Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh and the former Union Territory, Delhi.

HISTORY OF THE USE OF NOTA

In the 2013 Assembly elections held in four States — Chhattisgarh,
Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the former Union
Territory, Delhi.NOTA constituted 1.85% of the total votes polled.

The average NOTA vote share dropped to 0.95% in the 2014

Assembly elections held in eight States — Haryana, Jharkhand,
Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir and Maharashtra.

It increased to 2.02% in the 2015 Assembly elections held in Delhi

and Bihar. While Delhi polled a mere 0.40%, Bihar saw 2.49% of
NOTA votes, which remains the highest NOTA votes polled so far in
any State in Assembly elections. In the 2016 Assembly elections
held in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu,
NOTA vote share dropped again to 1.6%. In the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls, NOTA constituted 1.1% of the total votes.

NOTA AROUND THE WORLD

India is the 14th Country to allow the use of NOTA option in
elections.

Brazil, Greece, Ukraine, Chile, Bangladesh, State of Nevada,

Finland, USA, Colombai, Spain and Sweden.

IMPORTANCE OF NOTA OPTION

The Election Commission of India has clarified that votes caste as
NOTA are counted, but considered as invalid votes. Therefore,
votes casted as NOTA would not make any difference to the
outcome of the election.

But then, one might ask what is the significance of NOTA.

NOTA gives the people dissatisfied with contesting candidates an

opportunity to express their disapproval.

POTENTIAL OF THE NEGATIVE VOTING

It would put Political Parties on notice that they cannot take the
voters for granted, and consequently to search wider and with
more sincerity to put up worthy and 'clean' candidates.

When political parties will realize that a large number of people

are expressing their disapproval with the candidates being put up
by them, gradually there will be a systemic change and the
political parties will be forced to accept the will of the people and
field candidates who are known for their integrity