In many of the MCQ type of tests that I would have taken at different stages of my life, there always were occasions when I had to use the elimination method. Even if I had no idea of the correct answer, some answers could be eliminated to arrive at the most probable answer. However, at times there was a spoil sport among the choices and that was NOTA – none of the above. This one option always confused me and dissuaded me from any reverse engineering.
Recently, it has been decided that in the coming elections, we will have the NOTA option as well in the electronic voting machines. There are both pros and cons to this. Inasmuch as providing an option to the voter to have the satisfaction of exercising his franchise, have that indelible mark on his index figure, and yet not recommend any of the candidates, it is a positive development.
In the manual voting system, an uninterested voter forced to visit the ballot room due to peer pressure or out of some lure, could have managed to drop a blank ballot paper in the box, thereby indicating his rejection of all the candidates. However, in the electronic voting machine, it is the ‘beep’ that is important for the election officer and the party agents sitting in the room to indicate completion of your voting process. Hence, feigning action is impossible with the EVMs. And there comes the main advocacy for the NOTA option. That an electorate should have the right of secrecy even while refusing or rejecting to vote for any of the candidates. Fair enough.
But now consider the other ostensibly noble thought around NOTA. The argument that this option will ensure rejection of inappropriate candidates and the fact that this option will ensure that the candidates with clean background are elected, seems too unrealistic. The fact remains that politics thrives on followership. This might come out of genuine fan following or can be induced due to any number of considerations.
We have seen a few isolated mass movements on issues debated at national level – be it India or elsewhere, but this has rarely happened on local issues. We all know that it is much easier for a seasoned politician to mobilize voters – be it genuine followership or an induced one through profit-motivations. Therefore, there can be a situation where in a constituency of 100, the 90 suave, supposedly educated electorates decide to opt for NOTA but effectively it is the other 10 artificially induced voters who will decide the election.
So, in effect, the NOTA option will only help to secure the right of secrecy for such an induced voter – who can now claim a few gifts for exercising his franchise and at the same time follow his inner conscience by invoking the NOTA option with a loud ‘beep’.
Recently, it has been decided that in the coming elections, we will have the NOTA option as well in the electronic voting machines. There are both pros and cons to this. Inasmuch as providing an option to the voter to have the satisfaction of exercising his franchise, have that indelible mark on his index figure, and yet not recommend any of the candidates, it is a positive development.
In the manual voting system, an uninterested voter forced to visit the ballot room due to peer pressure or out of some lure, could have managed to drop a blank ballot paper in the box, thereby indicating his rejection of all the candidates. However, in the electronic voting machine, it is the ‘beep’ that is important for the election officer and the party agents sitting in the room to indicate completion of your voting process. Hence, feigning action is impossible with the EVMs. And there comes the main advocacy for the NOTA option. That an electorate should have the right of secrecy even while refusing or rejecting to vote for any of the candidates. Fair enough.
But now consider the other ostensibly noble thought around NOTA. The argument that this option will ensure rejection of inappropriate candidates and the fact that this option will ensure that the candidates with clean background are elected, seems too unrealistic. The fact remains that politics thrives on followership. This might come out of genuine fan following or can be induced due to any number of considerations.
We have seen a few isolated mass movements on issues debated at national level – be it India or elsewhere, but this has rarely happened on local issues. We all know that it is much easier for a seasoned politician to mobilize voters – be it genuine followership or an induced one through profit-motivations. Therefore, there can be a situation where in a constituency of 100, the 90 suave, supposedly educated electorates decide to opt for NOTA but effectively it is the other 10 artificially induced voters who will decide the election.
So, in effect, the NOTA option will only help to secure the right of secrecy for such an induced voter – who can now claim a few gifts for exercising his franchise and at the same time follow his inner conscience by invoking the NOTA option with a loud ‘beep’.
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