In an earlier ruling, the Supreme Court said that the option of not voting in favour of any candidate during assembly or parliamentary elections has to be conceded. It is for the first time that the option is allowed. Consequently the Chief Election Commission of India has now finalized the symbol of None Of The Above (NOTA) along with other symbols allotted to the candidates/parties. Instructions have been passed on to the Election Commissions in the States to take necessary action and add the symbol to the voting card. In the forthcoming elections to legislative assemblies in five states the symbol of NOTA, which is a square with NOTA inscribed inside, will be seen on the voting card and the voters can exercise the option if they do not find any of the candidates suiting their requirement. The question was raised what would be the situation if most of the voters opted for NOTA. In such a situation the candidate with maximum votes will be declared successful. The importance of adding this option to the list of the candidates is that it will give a feed back on the popularity or otherwise of the candidates in a given constituency. Previously if any voter did not want to vote in favour of any candidate he would keep away from casting his vote. But now he will come to the polling booth and if he chooses not to vote in favour of any candidate he can exercise that option. This will give an overall estimation of the level of popularity of the candidates in a given constituency. Now with the finalisation of the symbol the process has been brought to completion. We shall now wait to see how it works when elections to five state legislatures are round the corner.
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