By Shivali Mishra
India is the largest democracy of the world and the essence of this democracy is the free and fair election. People have the right to choose their representatives and now with the judgment given by the Supreme Court the citizen also have the right to reject the candidates by pressing NOTA i.e. None Of The Above.
The candidates standing in election are so disappointing that people have started abstaining from exercising their most important right. The candidate elected is the representative of a particular area or state so they have a great responsibility on their shoulder and due to false voting such candidates are selected who do not deserve such a post. When people give up their voting right due to inefficient candidates there is no record of it and hence it doesn’t signify anything rather it gives a negative impact on the legal awareness of the citizens.
The introduction of the NOTA option which was made mandatory by the Supreme Court so that people who did not want to vote for any of the candidates in their respective constituencies had the option of rejecting all of them without giving up their right to a secret vote. The act of rejection will promote the political parties to make appropriate choice of candidate for election.
But even after making use of this new button there is chances that the situation will remain the same. The process is such that the person who will be getting highest number of votes from the total number of votes casted will be declared as winner. This scheme will be only for indication purpose to the political party about the quality of candidates. This will only show the political parties whether the candidates selected by them for election purpose was having the required talent or capability to convince the people or not.
There can be provision that if in a particular election the percentage of votes casted for candidates is less than the votes casted for NOTA option then there will be a re-election. If this system is introduced then it will not be suitable for the economy of our country. The organization of election in country like India is a costly affair. So, opting this option is not apt. In place of this NOTA option the government would have opted for setting some educational qualifications for the candidates or any other type of work experience or knowledge about a particular field this would have sufficed the purpose.
In fact there is also a very high probability that this scheme of NOTA will be misused by different groups and anti-government agencies. Even there are views such as that this NOTA option for voting would only strengthen the hands of separatists. This option would be used by separatists for their anti-election campaign. They can train people or even force them to opt for this option in order to make election unsuccessful. There was news that Maoists are training people and making them aware about this new option so that they can be successful in their goals.
Voters had to use the option of NOTA through a register under Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules, thus compromising the secrecy of their vote.
NOTA: one more option
The main purpose for introduction of such option is for the proper functioning of our democracy. This option will not have effect on the result of the election but it will control the system of bogus votes. But the main thing is that the social setup and the mentality of the people.
Firstly people have lost their faith and hope in these political parties. They hardly trust them and on top of it there will be only few people who will go, stand in a queue for hours to press NOTA button. People are lazy and also give less importance to their voting rights as they have thinking that all the parties and all the candidates are of similar nature and will be having their own unfair means to combat with their problem.
As most electronic voting machines treat not voting for any of the candidates as a blank vote, when electronic voting machines are used the usefulness of including a NOTA option is to allow the voters and those counting and reporting to differentiate between a blank vote cast by ignorance and a purposeful blank vote. However, this can also be done by including a second step, informing the voter that he is about to cast a blank vote and asking if he wants to change that decision.
There are examples of different countries that introduced the system of NOTA but removed it due to economic burden caused by the failure of elections. It is also point of dispute in some countries like Nevada which is the only US state offering this option in the ballot box. But it is having many success stories also.
In Russia the election of 1991 led to the break-up of the Soviet Union and the Soviet version of “none of above” led to new elections with new candidates in 200 races of the 1,500-seat Congress of People’s Deputies. It helped to convince people that they had real power even in a rigged election, and it played a role in building true democracy.
In Spain, NOTA stand as a statistical indicator of the candidates’ popularity. In this country NOTA ballots only increase the amount of valid votes, raising the threshold of votes which every political party has to overcome to be fully considered.
Even our neighboring country Pakistan which is having a very dynamic political condition has also introduced this system in order to attain complete democracy.
India is a multi party-democracy and one thing is common to all parties i.e. increasing criminalization of politics, corruption, and rampant abuse of money and in such a scenario option of NOTA will make the political parties to correct their ways and select sound candidate for election purpose. NOTA is an outcome of frustration citizens have felt with the criminalization and corruption of politics.
They have seen candidates winning elections and amassing huge amount of personal wealth, clout and assets, and using it to stay in power, with no benefits to the common person. And candidates with criminal backgrounds have an upper hand in winning elections as they have illicit funds to campaign and to buy votes, and have no hesitation in using physical force and coercion to change voting patterns in their favor.
But this NOTA option provides a reflection of the views of the people but fails to provide solutions and alternatives. It does not give people the right to reject candidates, and disallow them from contesting and winning the election. In fact, NOTA have no impact on electoral outcomes. Even when a majority of people vote for NOTA and reject all candidates, the winning candidate will still emerge from the rejected candidates. This is because NOTA have been given no teeth — it cannot lead to cancellation of polls or re-elections, or force political parties to present a new selection of candidates.
Thus there is a high possibility that NOTA will not end up giving the politics we want and the tensions between the people and the political class will remain.
NOTA is just one among a series of efforts being made to restore power to the people. Our democratic institutions need to constantly change to reflect the aspirations and demands of the people, and needs of society. This will encourage honest and sincere candidates to enter politics knowing that voters want clean and nation-building politics, and that they have the tools to reject tainted candidates.
The question is that whether or not it is politically useful to include a NOTA option will be decided from case to case. In the cases where many voters want to cast protest votes, a NOTA option could be useful. However, ironically enough in these very cases the politicians are likely to be reluctant to allow this option.
In cases where the NOTA option is available for voters voting on paper ballots, it is advisable to allow this option for those using EVMs as well in order not to confuse or discriminate against any group of voters. In the coming time it will be clear whether NOTA option is fulfilling the purpose or is increasing the burden of the country.