NOTA- Good or Bad

SUBMITTED BY- RADHIKA KHANDELWAL

NOTA means "None of the Above" 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

The main objective of the ‘NOTA’ option 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. The
voter must be eligible to register a vote of rejection if they feel that the contesting candidates do not
deserve to be voted for. The Right to vote granted to all citizens must allow the vote of disapproval.

But then there are some people who are not at all interested in casting their votes. It is not that they
don’t understand the importance of their vote but they are not ready to cast votes just because they
understand the importance of their vote. There is a difference in both the cases. They want the
choice of NOTA.

India is a democratic country and everyone has a right to liberty. So there should be no problem to
give them the right of voting to no one. Before advent of electronic balloting if the voters didn’t
want to vote any of the candidates then they simply wasted or spoiled the ballot paper. But now if
an individual wants to back out then there is a complex procedure. They have to fill the Form 49(A).
It will allow the people to show their dissent against the people standing for the elections. And the
parties would be forced to change their representatives. Once the NOTA option is started then
people can see a rise in the number of people coming out for vote. It is better not to choose anyone
rather than selecting a lesser evil. It will encourage transparency in the system. In the objective
paper if no answer is correct then the right answer is NOTA. The same principle stands true in voting.

Every citizen of the country has a right to express his opinions, even if it no one. There are times
when people want to vote and have to select the person just because there is no other choice.
Opening the option of NOTA will allow people to reject the candidates and probably this could be a
start of fair politics.