‘NOTA’ble trend of May 16 Assembly polls triggers big debate in the State

This voting pattern has led to a debate if the NOTA option should be included at all in the EVM.

N Gopalaswami, Former Chief Election Commissioner, said NOTA can’t just be wished away. Tracing the history of this option, he explained, “Even before the advent of EVMs, there were rejected votes – as people either left the ballot paper blank or wrote the names of two candidates and made other such violations. When the EVMs came, there was no provision for someone who didn’t want to vote.” For many voters, NOTA was a way to express their dissatisfaction. Disappointed with the political situation, T. Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association had conducted awareness sessions on the NOTA. VS Jayaraman, a member of the association, said, “Many of us have voted for NOTA because we wanted to express our dissent.” 

Jayaram Venkatesan, Convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, said that NOTA option has definitely played an important role during the elections

“The high number of NOTA votes accounts for the fact that people are upset with the political parties as well as the way the election has been conducted. As of now, the NOTA vote does not have much power. We, along with the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), have been working towards electoral reforms, including provision of more power to NOTA. I think that political parties have to take the NOTA numbers seriously. It could be 15-20 constituencies today but in the future, what happens if 50-60 constituencies follow a similar trend?,” he said.