PANAJI
Whether it was a wider choice of parties or an acceptance of candidates, a greater number of voters in the State preferred to exercise their franchise in favour of one candidate as opposed to None Of The Above (NOTA) at the February 14 assembly polls.
However, this will not mean much for 76 candidates in the State who had the unenviable record of polling less than the NOTA votes in their respective constituencies.
The number of NOTA votes (10,629) at the 2022 polls decreased, albeit marginally, as compared to the 2017 elections (10,919).
In both these elections, the NOTA votes were highest in Poriem constituency and lowest in Mormugao constituency.
The option to vote in favour of NOTA was first introduced in the assembly elections in 2017 and 10,921 voters had exercised this NOTA option in the State.
In the 2017 polls, 552 voters had opted for NOTA in Poriem constituency, while the NOTA votes were marginally lower (542) in the 2022 polls.
Similarly, in Mormugao constituency, a total of 151 NOTA votes were polled in 2017, while the number dropped to 107 NOTA votes this time.
Porvorim had the highest percentage of NOTA votes (2.23%), with 473 NOTA votes being polled among the 20,764 votes cast in the constituency, followed by Poriem (1.85 %), Taleigao (1.8%), Marcaim (1.57%), Cumbarjua (1.5%), St Cruz (1.54%) and Valpoi (1.52%) which were the seven constituencies with the highest percentage of NOTA votes.
