Context: Recently, the Supreme Court issued notice to Election Commission of India (ECI) on a plea seeking direction to frame rules to the effect that if NOTA (None of the Above) gets a majority, the election held in the particular constituency shall be declared null and void and a fresh election shall be conducted to the constituency.

About NOTA (None of the Above)

• It is a ballot option that a voter can choose to apply for instead of giving their vote to anyof the contesting candidates.

• NOTA empowers the electors to express their negative opinions and a lack of support for the contenders.

• It is important to note that NOTA does not provide a right to reject to the voters in the sense of forcing a re-election or cancellation of the election.

• When a voter chooses the NOTA option, it indicates a negative vote, essentially expressing dissatisfaction with the candidates without actively supporting any particular one.

• The introduction of NOTA was aimed at giving voters a means to express their dissatisfaction with the available candidates, thereby encouraging political parties to field better candidates.

• However, NOTA votes are not counted for determining the winner of an election. Even if NOTA receives the highest number of votes, the candidate with the highest number of votes among the contesting candidates is declared the winner.

• NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.

When was it first used?

• 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.

How does a person cast a NOTA vote?

• 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.

Does NOTA Vote Count?

• The Election Commission clarified that votes cast as NOTA are counted, but are considered ‘invalid votes’.

• Even if NOTA votes get the most number of votes in a constituency, the next candidate with the second-most number of votes is declared the winner.

• Therefore, votes made to NOTA will not change the outcome of the election.