NOTA : Karnataka Assembly Polls
According to the Election Commission (EC) figures, over 2.6 lakh voters opted for NOTA in the recently held Karnataka assembly polls.
- NOTA (None of the Above) is a ballot option provided in the elections to the Indian voter.
- It is the option which enables the voter to officially register a vote of rejection for all candidates who are contesting.
- If a voter chooses to press NOTA, it indicates that the voter has not chosen to vote for any of the parties.
- Objective is to enable electors who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates to exercise their right to reject without violation of the secrecy of their decision.
- NOTA was used for the first time in the 2013 Assembly elections in five states – Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh – and later in the 2014 General Elections.
- It was introduced into the electoral process following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the PUCL versus Union of India case.
- The NOTA option in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) is given at the bottom of the candidates’ list.
- Earlier, in order to cast a negative ballot, a voter had to inform the presiding officer at the polling booth.
- Now the voter has just to press the NOTA option on the EVM.
