Lok Sabha Elections 2024: When was NOTA introduced into polling system?
Before NOTA was included in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), voters who wished to reject all candidates had to fill out Form 49-O at a voting booth. However, this process compromised the secrecy of the voter’s choice.
FollowElectronic voting machines (EVMs) offer a "None of the Above" (NOTA) option for voters who do not want to endorse any political candidate. This enables people to use their right to abstain from voting without having to disclose their choice.
Selecting NOTA indicates that the voter has chosen not to support any specific party or candidate. If NOTA receives the highest number of votes in a constituency, the candidate with the second-highest number of votes is declared the winner.
Before NOTA was included in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), voters who wished to reject all candidates had to fill out Form 49-O at a voting booth. However, this process compromised the secrecy of the voter’s choice.
When was NOTA introduced?
Following a September 27, 2013, ruling by the Supreme Court, NOTA was implemented in India. It was intended to deter political parties from nominating corrupt individuals.
“Negative voting will lead to a systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates. If the right to vote is a statutory right, then the right to reject a candidate is a fundamental right of speech and expression under the Constitution,” said a bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam said while delivering the verdict.
The bench also mentioned that a number of other nations have a negative voting system. Even in Parliament, MPs have the option to abstain from voting.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) was ordered by the court to install a NOTA button on every electronic voting machine (EVM). The National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad created the NOTA symbol, which is displayed in the final panel of all EVMs, and the electoral body subsequently adopted it.
When was NOTA used for the first time?
The NOTA option was initially applied in 2013 during the Assembly elections that took place in the Union Territory of Delhi as well as four states: Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. In the state elections, over 15 lakh voters used this option, with 3.56 lakh doing so in Chhattisgarh, 5.9 lakh in Madhya Pradesh, and 5.67 lakh in Rajasthan.
