SC gives choice of ticking ‘None of the above’ option on ballot paper.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court in India has given the choice to the electorate, just months before the country hits the road to polls, the right to reject a candidate too apart from the usual choice of right to choose.
The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to provide ‘none of the above options’ at the end of the list of candidates in electronic voting machines and ballot papers to allow voters to reject those contesting polls.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said that negative voting would foster purity and vibrancy of elections and ensure wide participation as people who are not satisfied with the candidates in the fray would also turn up to express their opinion rejecting contestants. It said that the concept of negative voting would bring a systemic change in the election process as the political parties will be forced to project clean candidates in polls. The bench noted that the concept of negative voting is prevalent in 13 countries and even in India, parliamentarians are given an option to press the button for abstaining while voting takes place in the House.
Under the existing provisions of the Representation of People Act, a voter who after coming to a polling booth does not want to cast his vote, has to inform the presiding officer of his intention not to vote, who in turn would make an entry in the relevant rule book after taking the signature of the said elector.
With the concept of negative voting, voters who are dissatisfied with the candidates in the fray would turn up in large number to express their opinion.
The court said that secrecy of votes cast under the no option category must be maintained by the Election Commission. The court passed the order after a PIL filed by an NGO, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) had submitted that voters be given the right to negative voting, in 2004. Agreeing with the NGO’s plea, the bench passed the path-breaking verdict and introduced the concept of negative voting in the election process which should further empower the voters in exercising their franchise.
Friday’s ruling is likely to be implemented from the next Assembly polls in five states, scheduled in November this year- Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. The general elections is scheduled for May next year.
Reacting to the judgment, Sanjay Parekh, the lawyer of the petitioner, said: “The voter is empowered to reject anyone. It is not a negative vote, it is a right of expression given to a voter by the Constitution. It is a message that will go to the political parties to field good people in polls for good governance. Now political parties should choose candidates with no criminal records.”
The latest verdict is part of series of judgments passed by the apex court on the election process. Earlier, it had restrained people in custody from contesting elections. The court has also ruled that MPs and MLAs would stand disqualified after being convicted of serious crimes. The government has brought an ordinance seeking to negate the court’s judgment striking down a provision in the electoral law that protected convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification.
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