Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel says NOTA option must be abolished, here's why

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday stated that the NOTA (none of the above) option, for citizens who are not interested in voting for any candidate, on the electronic voting machines must be scrapped.

NOTA was enforced by the Election Commission (EC) in 2013 to the EVM as the last option on the voting panel, after a Supreme Court order. It has its own symbol – a ballot paper with a black cross on it.

What CM Baghel said?

Talking to reporters at Raipur airport, Bhupesh Baghel said it has been seen that sometimes NOTA polled more votes than the margin of victory and loss.

When asked if NOTA got more than 2 lakh votes in the 2018 assembly elections in the state and how the option impacts elections, CM Baghel said, “The Election Commission should take cognisance. Many times it has been seen that NOTA polled more votes than the margin of victory and loss (between two candidates).” He said that many voters press the NOTA button thinking that they either have to hit the one at the top or at the bottom. “So NOTA should be stopped."

Elections for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be conducted in two phases on November 7 and 17.

Statistics of the NOTA option

In the 2018 assembly elections, Chhattisgarh had recorded 76.88 per cent voter turnout with 1,42,90,497 of the total 1,85,88,520 electors exercising their franchise. NOTA had polled 2,82,738 votes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, over 1.96 lakh NOTA votes were polled in the state, which has 11 parliamentary seats. NOTA stood at the third position in five parliamentary constituencies – Bastar, Surguja, Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon in 2019.

(With inputs from PTI)