Trends with NOTA Votes

With the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election results are out, the following trends are observed with NOTA:

• The number of NOTA votes polled was about 1.04% in 2019 against the 1.08% of the NOTA votes in 2014.
• The percentage of the NOTA votes polled remained more or less the same in comparison with the last polls.
• Assam and Bihar witnessed a high NOTA vote rate of about 2.08%.

NOTA Vote

The option of NOTA was first introduced in the 2013 Assembly elections of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the former Union Territory of Delhi. The NOTA option in the EVM was added as per the directive of the Supreme Court in the case of People’s Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India.

The important aspect here is NOTA in India does not provide for a ‘right to reject’. Irrespective of the number of NOTA votes polled, the candidate with the maximum votes wins the election.