Voting is compulsory by law in Australia.
Russia allows voters to vote "against all" candidates.
India has Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 of India only.
Rule 49-O : Elector deciding not to vote: "If an elector, after his
electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters
in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as
required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his
vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in
Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb
impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark"
The procedure to be followed for rule 49-O: After the voter's
electoral number has been entered in the register and he has been
identified, his signature/thumb impression is against his name in the
voters list. The voter then approaches the presiding officer and
informs him of his decision not to vote in favor of any of the
candidates. The officer makes an entry namely "Refused to Vote"
against the name of this voter in the list. Both the officer and the
voter have to provide a signature/thumb impression against this entry.
The numbers of such entries have to be mandatorily recorded in Form
17-A. ECI has directed that the entries should be compiled and
recorded (Item 3, Part-I of Form 17C) constituency wise and sent to
the Commission. This information may also be obtained through RTI.
Disadvantage of rule 49-O for the elector: Secrecy of the ballot is
violated as the voter has to inform the presiding officer and an entry
is made against his name in the voters list. Such voters are deemed to
have abstained from casting their vote. They are not included in the
counting of votes and candidate securing the maximum number of votes
in the constituency is declared winner irrespective of the winning
margin.
Advantage of rule 49-O for the voter: It provides an option to the
voter to reject all candidates. It also helps to keep a check on bogus
voting as someone else will not be able to impersonate and vote in
place of him in favor of any candidate. If there are more than 50%
no-votes , We can press our point to have "None of the above" (NOTA)
option on EVM more strongly with the Government .
YAISHWARYAJ's Demand : The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961should be
amended to specifically provide for negative / neutral voting. For
this purpose, Rules 22 (Form of ballot paper) and 49B (Preparation of
voting machine by the returning Officer) of the Conduct of Election
Rules, 1961 should be suitably amended adding a provision that in the
ballot paper and the particulars on the ballot unit, in the column
relating to names of candidates, after the entry relating to the last
candidate, there shall be a column None of the above, to enable a
voter to reject all the candidates, if he chooses so. The voter must
be able to register a vote of disapproval/rejection if they are of the
opinion that none of the contesting candidates deserve to be voted
for. Right to vote must also include the vote of
disapproval/rejection. "None of the above" (NOTA) option enables a
voter to officially register a vote of rejection of all contesting
candidates available in the election. Even the ECI has recommended
that the NOTA option must be made available on the electronic voting
machine (EVM) for the voter to officially reject all candidates.
YAISHWARYAJ's Appeal to the Voters: Cast your vote at the voice of
your conscience, if you find no suitable candidate in your
constituency, do exercise 49-O. If you want to be part of this
movement of Poll-reforms, please contact YAISHWARYAJ Seva Sansthan,
Lucknow at mobile helpline nos. 8081898081 & 9455553838 or thru e-mail
ysshelp@gmail.com
--
- Urvashi Sharma
Right to Information Helpline 8081898081
Helpline Against Corruption 9455553838
http://yaishwaryaj-seva-sansthan.hpage.co.in/
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