Landmark judgment by SC: include "none of the above" button in EVMs

 The Supreme Court (on Sep 27, 2013) said that a button should be provided on voting machines for a voter to reject all candidates contesting an election in his or her constituency.

Here are some of the top developments in this case:

v    The court heard a petition filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, an NGO, that a button be provided on the Electronic Voting Machine or EVM, giving the voters a "none of the above" choice.

v    According to sources, the Election Commission will implement the Supreme Court order for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states due by the end of the year.

v    Activists seeking electoral reforms have proposed that if more than 50 per cent of those who vote reject all candidates, there should be a re-election in that constituency. There is no provision for this right now. The petitioner has argued that a voter has a right to record disapproval of all candidates listed.

v    The Election Commission has supported this stand. It had recommended that the government amend rules to include this, but that has not happened yet. 

v    The Centre has opposed the proposal. It contends that an election is meant to elect and not to reject. It has also argued that including a rejection button will confuse voters and will not serve any purpose.

v    At present, if a voter goes to a polling booth and does not want to vote for any candidate, he can sign a register and come out.

v    Gandhian activist Anna Hazare had campaigned extensively for poll reforms that would include both the right to reject and the right to recall an elected representative if the electorate is dissatisfied with his or her performance.

v    Political parties have not made their stand on right to reject clear yet. The BJP had asked for a detailed debate. The Left had sought clarity on what purpose it hoped to serve.

  

 The apex court bench of Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that negative voting would gradually lead to systemic changes as political parties will have to respect the will of the people in selecting their candidates.