Petition filed in the Supreme Court to order re-elections if NOTA emerges

New Delhi: A petition demanding re-elections, cancelling the results, in case NOTA is the first choice of the voters, has been filed in the Supreme Court. While hearing the petition, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the union government and the Election Commission demanding a reply.

The petition demands that if the voters express their disapproval for all the candidates contesting the polls by pressing NOTA and it gets more votes than the winning candidate. In that case, the result of such election should be immediately cancelled and re-elections should be ordered in such locations. While admitting the petition, the 3-judge bench comprising Honourable Chief Justice of India, Justice Sharad Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice V Subramanian issued a notice to the union government and the Election Commission and the Supreme Court has asked for a reply on-demand in the petition.

The petition also demands that voters have a complete right to reject inappropriate candidates. Therefore, if NOTA secures more votes than the winning candidate, such candidates should not be allowed to contest the re-elections. The petitioner has said that the Election Commission should use the powers vested in their hands by article 324.

The election commission made the ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) button available on the voting machines to the voters since 2014. In 2009, the Election Commission had expressed its desire to make this button available on the voting machine while answering a petition in the Supreme court. As per the Supreme court’s direction, this button was made available on the voting machines in 2013. But the election results are not cancelled in case NOTA secures the maximum votes. The candidate securing maximum votes is declared elected.