Right to Reject will clean up electoral system

Constitutional experts, political parties divided on how useful a vote that elected no one would be in a democracy like India

Indians will now have another fundamental right: the right to reject all candidates in any election by simply pressing a button in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) that says: None of The Above (NOTA). In an order passed by the Supreme Court today, this measure will help ‘clean up’ the electoral system.

However constitutional experts and political parties were divided on how useful a vote that elected no one would be in a democracy like India.

While the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi hailed the order, Congress party spokesmen said they were still studying it.

Some legal brains in the Congress said they found little merit in the order, as the right to vote was not a fundamental right, only a statutory right and thereforefor the right to reject to become a fundamental right was inconsistent.

It is expected that today’s order will first be implemented in the upcoming Assembly elections. Later in the year, five states – Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram – are scheduled for polls. The SC judgment came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties.

In its order, the SC directed the Election Commission to include negative voting by allowing voters to select ‘none’ as an option in Electronic Voting Machines and ballot papers. Sourced in the bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) which manufactures the Electronic Voting Machines said no new technology needed to be introduced as a result of the SC order.

“Each of the evms manufactured by bel has 16 buttons.Now with SC saying that there should be a ‘None Of the Above button, all the ec has to do is list a button against that option. However, what symbol (for unlettered voters) the EC chooses for the button is something EC has to decide” sources in BEL said.

At present, under rule 49-o of The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, a voter can by filling a form, place on record to the presiding officer his unwillingness to vote for any of the candidates.

Opposition leaders said that if more than 50% voters press the NOTA button, the election should be set aside. The SC order is not clear on this. They also argued that the Right to Recall should be the next right the Indian voter should get.