April 29th 2024.
In a recent development, the Supreme Court has taken notice of the low turnout of voters in the first two phases of the ongoing general elections. The apex court has requested a response from the Election Commission of India regarding the protocol to be followed in case the NOTA option receives more votes than any candidate in a constituency. This move comes after author, activist, and motivational speaker Shiv Khera submitted a PIL calling for regulations to invalidate an election and call for a fresh one if NOTA garners the most votes.
It is important to note that the NOTA option has been provided to voters in all electronic voting machines, following a 2013 verdict by the Supreme Court. The court believed that negative voting would promote democracy and send a clear message to political parties about the people's thoughts on their candidates. However, the current case faced hesitation from the Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, as they felt it fell under the government's policy. But they eventually agreed to hear the plea after the petitioner's counsel, senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan, pointed out the case of a BJP candidate winning uncontested in Surat due to other candidates withdrawing their nominations. The counsel argued that if the BJP nominee had run against NOTA as a symbolic candidate, the people's true choice would have been revealed.
The PIL referred to the 170th report of the Law Commission of India, which suggested a new method of election where a candidate must receive at least 50% of votes to be declared elected. It also proposed the option of a 'negative vote' for voters who do not wish to support any candidate. The recommendation included counting negative votes as part of the total votes cast, and if no candidate reaches the 50% threshold, a run-off should be held. If no candidate still reaches the threshold in the run-off, a fresh election should be conducted for that constituency.
The plea also argued for disqualifying candidates from the electoral process if they receive fewer votes than NOTA. It highlighted that since the introduction of NOTA in 2013, it has failed to increase voter turnout as intended. Additionally, it pointed out that NOTA has not compelled political parties to nominate candidates with clean backgrounds, evident from the high number of candidates with criminal charges contesting elections in the country.
The NOTA option gives voters the power to express their dissatisfaction and lack of support for all candidates while still exercising their right to vote. However, despite its good intentions, the number of voters opting for NOTA remains low, with experts calling it a toothless tiger with no impact on the results. In the last Lok Sabha elections, NOTA received only 1.06% of the votes, with the highest percentage being 1.98% in the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly polls. It is time for the Election Commission to give more significance to NOTA, a true weapon for voters who do not belong to any specific vote bank and are often ignored by both the ruling and opposition parties.
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