Current Status of Right to Reject (NOTA)

Best Citation – Shwet Kamal, Current Status of Right to Reject (NOTA), 3 IJLR 95, 2022

ABSTRACT

The country we love has a constitution which looks upon the freedom of speech and expression as one of the most important hallmark of a free democratic society. Article 19(1) (a) confirms the freedom of Speech and expression of every citizens and right to reject is one of the facet of it. The will of the people is the basis of the authority of government; this will is expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. In the case of PUCL v. Union of India , the Apex Court of India held that rules 41(2) & (3) and 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rule, 1961 are ultra vires to the section 128 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India to the extent they violate secrecy of voting. The Court further directed the Election Commission to provide necessary provision in the ballot papers or EVMs and another button called “None of the Above” (NOTA) may be provided in EVMs so that the voters, who come to the polling booth and decide not to vote for any of the contesting candidates, are able to exercise their right not to vote while maintaining their right of secrecy. However, if NOTA gets the maximum votes election is not nullified. To implement the right to reject fully, it has been argued that good governance is one of the motivating factor behind the right to reject and it cannot be successfully achieved without nullifying the election if NOTA gets maximum votes.