SC empowers voters, gives them right to reject all candidates
28 Sep 2013 12:24 AM GMT
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has said that voters have the right to cast negative vote rejecting all candidates if they are not satisfied with them. The court said this would ensure wide participation of citizens and would bring a systemic change in the election process. A bench comprising of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi said that negative voting would foster purity and vibrancy of elections and ensure wide participation and the concept of negative voting would bring a systemic change in the election process.
The court directed the Election Commission to provide necessary provision in the ballot papers/EVMs and to provide another button called ‘None Of the Above’ (NOTA) in EVMs so that the voters, who come to the polling booth and decide not to vote for any of the candidates in the fray, are able to exercise their rights while maintaining their right of secrecy. It directed the Election Commission to implement it either in a phased manner or at a time with the assistance of the government. It also directed the Election Commission to undertake awareness programmes to educate the masses.
The court said that the voting machines in Parliament have three buttons, namely, AYES, NOES, and ABSTAIN and it can be seen that an option has been given to the members to press the ABSTAIN button. ‘Similarly, the NOTA button being sought for by the petitioners is exactly similar to the ABSTAIN button since by pressing the NOTA button the voter is in effect saying that he is abstaining from voting since he does not find any of the candidates to be worthy of his vote,’ observed the court adding that ‘The mechanism of negative voting, thus, serves a very fundamental and essential part of a vibrant democracy’.
The court said that when the political parties will realise that a large number of people are expressing their disapproval with the kind of candidates being put up by them, gradually there will be a systemic change and the political parties will be forced to accept the will of the people and field candidates who are known for their integrity.
The court directed the Election Commission to provide necessary provision in the ballot papers/EVMs and to provide another button called ‘None Of the Above’ (NOTA) in EVMs so that the voters, who come to the polling booth and decide not to vote for any of the candidates in the fray, are able to exercise their rights while maintaining their right of secrecy. It directed the Election Commission to implement it either in a phased manner or at a time with the assistance of the government. It also directed the Election Commission to undertake awareness programmes to educate the masses.
The court said that the voting machines in Parliament have three buttons, namely, AYES, NOES, and ABSTAIN and it can be seen that an option has been given to the members to press the ABSTAIN button. ‘Similarly, the NOTA button being sought for by the petitioners is exactly similar to the ABSTAIN button since by pressing the NOTA button the voter is in effect saying that he is abstaining from voting since he does not find any of the candidates to be worthy of his vote,’ observed the court adding that ‘The mechanism of negative voting, thus, serves a very fundamental and essential part of a vibrant democracy’.
The court said that when the political parties will realise that a large number of people are expressing their disapproval with the kind of candidates being put up by them, gradually there will be a systemic change and the political parties will be forced to accept the will of the people and field candidates who are known for their integrity.
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