Supreme Court gives voters right to reject all candidates

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Sept 27 (NDTV):  In a landmark step towards cleaner politics, the Supreme Court today directed the Election Commission to provide a button on voting machines to allow voters to reject all candidates contesting an election in a constituency, starting with the next set of assembly elections this year. The court said this option was crucial as for a democracy to survive and for the best available men to be chosen for governing the country.

 

Here are the top 10 developments:

    The Court said in a vibrant democracy, the voter must be given the choice of ’NOTA’ or None of the above.

    Voters in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram - where Assembly elections are due in November - will be the first to have the right to reject option.

    The court decided on a petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, an NGO, that a button be provided on the Electronic Voting Machine or EVM, giving the voters a "none of the above" choice.

    There is no provision yet to count the "rejection" votes and so these will not impact the result of the election. Activists have proposed that if more than 50 per cent of those who vote reject all candidates, there should be a re-election in that constituency.

    The petitioner had argued that a voter has a right to record disapproval of all candidates listed. The Election Commission had supported this stand. It had recommended that the government amend rules to include this, but that had not been done. 

    The Centre had opposed the proposal. It contended that an election is meant to elect and not to reject.

    It also argued that including a rejection button will confuse voters and will not serve any purpose.

    At present, if a voter goes to a polling booth and does not want to vote for any candidate, he can sign a register and come out.

    Gandhian activist Anna Hazare had campaigned extensively for poll reforms that would include both the right to reject and the right to recall an elected representative if the electorate is dissatisfied with his or her performance.

    Political parties have not made their stand on right to reject clear yet. The BJP had asked for a detailed debate. The Left had sought clarity on what purpose it hoped to serve