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Chennai High Court Order: Will the election be valid if NOTA wins?
Posted on: 12/May/2016 2:28:14 PM
Though the option of voting for NOTA (None Of The Above) rejecting all the standing contestants is in vogue, there is an increased awareness among the public regarding NOTA.
The Election Commission clarified that in the event of NOTA winning, there would not be any problem and the contestant who secured the second maximum votes after NOTA would be declared the winner.
Meanwhile, Tharanganbadi Duraivasu, in a petition to the Chennai High Court, stated:
The democratic rights have been given to the voter to vote for NOTA in case he does not want to vote for any of the contestants.
However, not much thought has been given to the number of votes for NOTA. The contestant who got the maximum votes is declared the winner.
However, in case the number of NOTA votes is more than the winner, it does not disturb this contestant’s victory. So, in case NOTA gets the maximum votes in a constituency, the election should be declared void and reelection must be ordered. The petition demands that the Election Commission should enact new laws accordingly.
In a similar vein, just as it is allowed for the government employees to vote by post, the very senior citizens and sick patients who cannot move out should also be permitted to vote by post.
The petitioner received a reply that his petition is being examined. However, no action had been taken thus far.
This petition was taken up for hearing yesterday (Wednesday, 11th May) by vacation judges N Krirubakaran and M V Muralidharan.
A brief on their order:
The advocate appearing on behalf of the Election Commission explained that it is not possible to declare the election invalid in case NOTA secures the maximum votes. The contestant who secured the next maximum votes would be declared as the winner.
However, the NOTA option has been given to the voter as per the Supreme Court Order. This change was introduced in order to bring about a change in the existing system.
There will be no disturbance or changes when the candidate who secured the maximum votes after NOTA is declared as the winner. This effectively means that the idea to introduce NOTA has been rendered meaningless.
So, the High Court needs to investigate and analyse this in great detail. Hence, the case hearing is adjourned to 1st week of July.
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