Bindu (Junior Lawyer) 20 February 2009

NOTA -Everyone should know

NOTA- NEGATIVE VOTING WHAT is NOTA Well, lets start, Politicians are under constant attack following 26/11. A new movement has now asked for change in the election process to allow voters ‘negative voting”. Though the Conduct of Elections Rules has such a provision , the electronic voting machines(EVMS) have no buttons with “None of the above option”, which is also called NOTA internationally. The NOTA system is being followed in many countries like France, Colombia, Nevada(USA), Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine and Bangladesh(in December) A senior Income tax Officer has begun a movement to get NOTA incorporated in EVMs so that voters can go for it if they don’t find any suitable candidate. R.S. Shrivastav, additional Commissioner of Income tax in Mumbai, has travelled 1400km in Gujarat by motorcycle in last week of January 2009 to create awareness about NOTA. Incidentally, a petition on the same issue filed by an NGO was to come up for hearing before Apex Court on Tuesday , 13th January 2009. Even he distributed the material on NOTA in Mumbai at Churchgate. Further, Srivastava said that Rule 49-O in the Conduct of Elections Rules provides for NOTA option, but is not incorporated in the EVM. A voter who wants to go for negative voting has to approach the presiding officer who would made a remark against the electoral roll number of the voter. “However, this exposes the secrecy of the voter which is contrary to clause in the Representation of the People Act and also the Constitution of India”. He said people must express for incorporation of the NOTA option to enable them to go for it fearlessly. Rule 49-O such remark. (The said article was pubilshed in Hindustan times on 09th JAnuary 2009)

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Prakash Yedhula (Lawyer) 01 March 2009

RECOMMENDATION OF ECI ON NEGATIVE / NEUTRAL VOTING

The Commission has received proposals from a very large number of individuals and organizations that there should be a provision enabling a voter to reject all the candidates in the constituency if he does not find them suitable. In the voting using the conventional ballot paper and ballot boxes, an elector can drop the ballot paper without marking his vote against any of the candidates, if he chooses so. However, in the voting using the Electronic Voting Machines, such a facility is not available to the voter. Although, Rule 49 O of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 provides that an elector may refuse to vote after he has been identified and necessary entries made in the Register of Electors and the marked copy of the electoral roll, the secrecy of voting is not protected here inasmuch as the polling officials and the polling agents in the polling station get to know about the decision of such a voter.

The Commission recommends that the law should be amended to specifically provide for negative / neutral voting. For this purpose, Rules 22 and 49B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 may be suitably amended adding a proviso that in the ballot paper and the particulars on the ballot unit, in the column relating to names of candidates, after the entry relating to the last candidate, there shall be a column “None of the above”, to enable a voter to reject all the candidates, if he chooses so. Such a proposal was earlier made by the Commission in 2001 (vide letter dated 10.12.2001).

Find attached the Proposed Electoral Reforms of ECI