NOTA in Rajya Sabha polls

• The Supreme Court has refused to stay an Election Commission circular issued in January 2014 that introduced NOTA in the Rajya Sabha elections. 

What is NOTA?

• NOTA or 'None of the above' is a ballot option that a voter can choose to apply instead of giving their vote to any of the contesting candidates.
• In 2009, the Election Commission of India had asked the Supreme Court to offer this option on electoral ballots, but the government had opposed to it.
• In September 2013, the SC ruled that every voter should have the right to register a 'None of the above' vote. From then on, the option has been in the electronic voting machines.
• The Election Commission clarified that votes caste as NOTA are counted, but are considered 'invalid votes'. Therefore, votes made to NOTA will not change the outcome of the election.

Analysis:

• NOTA gives people dissatisfied with contesting candidates an opportunity to express their disapproval. This, in turn, increases the chances of more people turning up to cast their votes, even if they do not support any candidate, and decreases the count of bogus votes.
• Negative voting could bring about "a systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates".
• Presence of the NOTA option in Gujrat Rajya Sabha elections can allows the possibility of a protest vote against the party high command for choosing candidates who are not agreeable to her, without having to choose candidates from opposing parties. The principle of a protest vote remains the same even if these are indirect elections.
• The party high command can issue a whip for a Rajya Sabha candidate, but anti-defection law provisions do not apply, and a defiant MLA is not disqualified from membership of the House.
• The Supreme Court has in the past held that open ballot votes in Rajya Sabha elections against the whip will not lead to disqualification as the Tenth Schedule, pertaining to anti-defection provisions, has a different purpose.

By: Vishal