This panchayat elections, voters disillusioned by the system or the lack of choice among the candidates, will not have the option of to choose the ‘none of the above’ option as is available when voting either for the Goa State Assembly or the Lok Sabha elections.
PANAJI:
Speaking to The Goan, State Election Commissioner R K Srivastava said that the NOTA option would not be available, firstly because the Goa Panchayat Raj Act does not offer the provision, with NOTA being a later development, and on account of the fact that panchayat elections would not be done with EVMs and would instead use ballot papers.
“There is no provision in the act for allowing the use of NOTA. NOTA was a subsequent development and the Act is not amended,” Srivastava said.
The State Election Commission has yet to introduce the concept of NOTA for the election it conducts. Back in 2015, the option of NOTA was not made available for the Zilla Panchayat elections.
On September 27, 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right to register a “none of the above” vote in elections should apply, and ordered EC to provide such a button in the voting machines, noting that it would increase participation.
The EC also clarified that even though votes cast as NOTA are counted, they are considered as invalid votes so they will not change the outcome of the election process.
