The issue of ‘None of the Above (NOTA) button is back in the public and legal debate. The Supreme Court on April 26 agreed to examine a plea seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame guidelines or rules, if in any election all the contesting candidates individually do not surpass NOTA. Issuing notice, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud sought the response of the ECI in the matter. The top court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a motivational speaker Shiv Khera who stressed on framing of rules to the effect that if NOTA gets a majority, the election held in the particular constituency be declared null and void and a fresh election be conducted. Khera contended that NOTA should be treated as a “fictional candidate” and fresh elections be conducted in case NOTA received the highest number of votes.
Senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan, appearing for Khera, cited the case where the BJP’s Surat candidate was declared the winner without any election as the nomination of the Congress candidate was rejected and other candidates withdrew their nominations. “We saw in Surat that since there was no other candidate, all had to go for only one candidate,” said the petitioner, adding that even if there is only one candidate, there should be an election as the voter should have the option to go for NOTA. Praying for uniform implementation of the NOTA vote option, the petitioner sought directions from the Supreme Court that the candidates who poll fewer votes than NOTA be debarred from contesting all elections for a period of five years. The PIL stated though the poll body incorporated and gave directions to include NOTA in the ballot paper but failed to recognise NOTA as a valid vote.
On September 27, 2013, the Supreme Court had directed the ECI to provide the option of NOTA in all voting machines saying that a provision of negative voting would be in the interest of promoting democracy as it would send clear signals to political parties and their candidates as to what the electorate thinks about them. Many people argue if NOTA votes really matter. According to some, NOTA has no electoral value in Indian systems because, in theory, the candidate with the most votes – possibly even just one – will be declared the winner even if NOTA receives the maximum number of votes. However, according to a different theory, NOTA votes are crucial to the outcome of the election because they deduct votes from political parties, which causes the margins of victory to shift. With the Chief Justice of India heading the bench, the ball is now in the ECI’s court to respond. A final verdict by the Supreme Court on this matter could potentially reshape the electoral dynamics in our country.
