Lok Sabha Elections: What is NOTA? Why it is regarded as a toothless tiger?
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In India, there have been instances when a voter does not support any of the candidates in the election, but they have no choice but to select a candidate. Therefore, the Supreme Court of India, in 2013, ruled that the right to register a "none of the above" i.e. NOTA vote in elections should apply, while ordering the Election Commission to provide a button for the same in the electronic voting machines.
NOTA simply mean that a citizen can choose not to vote for any candidates who are contesting the elections in a particular constituency. Following the SC's verdict, the Election Commission introduced a particular symbol for ‘None of the Above’ option to allow the voters to exercise NOTA. This symbol appears in the last panel on all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The main objective of the ‘NOTA’ option is to enable electors who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates to exercise their "right to reject" the contesting candidates. The very intention of the Supreme Court of India was to force the political parties to project candidates with clean backgrounds as their candidates.
There are significant cons to NOTA. In 2013, the EC issued a circular saying in the event of NOTA getting votes which exceed the number of votes polled by any candidate, then the one with the highest number of positive votes would be declared the winner. This meant that even if NOTA got a majority of votes cast in an election, it would have no impact on the outcome of the poll.
In simple words, "Even if there are 99 NOTA votes out of a total of 100, and candidate X gets just one vote, X is the winner, having obtained the only valid vote. The rest will be treated as invalid or ‘no votes’"
This means that there is no use if a voter goes for NOTA. The only solution the Indian citizens can find here is if NOTA has more votes than contesting candidates, then the election to that constituency should be cancelled and a fresh election should be held within a particular time. The candidates who had contested in elections should not be allowed to participate in the fresh election. The right to reject contesting candidates and elect a new candidate, if NOTA gets the maximum votes, is not only necessary to ensure free and fair elections but is also essential to make their vote count in elections.
What is NOTA?
NOTA simply mean that a citizen can choose not to vote for any candidates who are contesting the elections in a particular constituency. Following the SC's verdict, the Election Commission introduced a particular symbol for ‘None of the Above’ option to allow the voters to exercise NOTA. This symbol appears in the last panel on all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The main objective of the ‘NOTA’ option is to enable electors who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates to exercise their "right to reject" the contesting candidates. The very intention of the Supreme Court of India was to force the political parties to project candidates with clean backgrounds as their candidates.
But why it is considered a toothless tiger?
There are significant cons to NOTA. In 2013, the EC issued a circular saying in the event of NOTA getting votes which exceed the number of votes polled by any candidate, then the one with the highest number of positive votes would be declared the winner. This meant that even if NOTA got a majority of votes cast in an election, it would have no impact on the outcome of the poll.
In simple words, "Even if there are 99 NOTA votes out of a total of 100, and candidate X gets just one vote, X is the winner, having obtained the only valid vote. The rest will be treated as invalid or ‘no votes’"
This means that there is no use if a voter goes for NOTA. The only solution the Indian citizens can find here is if NOTA has more votes than contesting candidates, then the election to that constituency should be cancelled and a fresh election should be held within a particular time. The candidates who had contested in elections should not be allowed to participate in the fresh election. The right to reject contesting candidates and elect a new candidate, if NOTA gets the maximum votes, is not only necessary to ensure free and fair elections but is also essential to make their vote count in elections.