Assam: Dispur MLA urges CEC to take steps for removal of NOTA from EVM

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Dispur MLA Atul Bora requested the Chief Election Commission (CEC) of India for the removal of the NOTA provision from the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The MLA made the request in a letter to the CEC.

In his letter, the MLA said, “The provision of NOTA, or ‘None of the Above’, is creating unwarranted difficulties in the whole of the voting procedure. This option in the EVM 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. My opinion in this matter is that when a person decides to utilize NOTA, he does so well in advance, and there is no need for him to come to the polling centre, stand in the queue for a long time, enter the polling booth, and then press the NOTA button in the EVM. It is simply a waste of time, leading to unnecessary loss of time and energy and creating problems for the voters who come to register their votes and not NOTA.”

According to the MLA’s letter, NOTA was first introduced in India following the Supreme Court judgement of September 27, 2013, in the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties vs. Union of India case. The Court opined that although the Right to Vote is one of the statutory rights, the judgement carried by the voters is an element of Freedom of Expression under Article 19(1)(a), Fundamental Right of Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19(1)(a), and a statutory right according to Section 79 of the Representation of Peoples Act, and therefore, the right not to vote should also be incorporated.

“I request the ECI to move the Supreme Court of India for reversal of this judgement such that NOTA can be removed from the EVMs,” the MLA said in his letter. The letter further said, “The ECI has already notified that ‘...even if, in any extreme case, the number of votes against NOTA is more than the number of votes secured by the candidates, the candidate who secures the largest number of votes among the contesting candidates shall be declared to be elected...’ and that ‘...votes polled for NOTA cannot be considered for determining the forfeiture of security deposit’. Thus, NOTA does not have any influence on the election result, not even on the forfeiture of the security deposit. It is thus a provision having no influence whatsoever on the election result. It is a provision having no utility, and I strongly urge the ECI to take steps urgently to remove this provision from the election process.”

 Also Read: Simultaneous polls: Rs 10,000 cr required for new EVMs after every 15 yrs, says EC

Also Watch: