SHILLONG: Even though there is still time before the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are declared, the State election department has already started its preparations for the smooth conduct of the electoral extravaganza next year.
“The Lok Sabha elections should be held before the first week of June,” Chief Electoral Officer, P Naik said recently adding that his department would publish the final list of electoral rolls by the first week of January.
For the first time in the history of the nation, electorates would have the option of not choosing to vote for any of the candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by clicking on a new option — None of the Above (NOTA).
The new initiative is called the “Right to Negative Voting” and will be implemented for the first time in the upcoming elections.
Chief Electoral Officer P Naik said that the election Commission of India has worked out the modalities as per the directive of the Supreme Court of India.
Earlier in September, the Supreme Court had said that for a vibrant democracy the voter has the right to negative voting by rejecting all the candidates in fray by exercising the option of None of the Above (NOTA) in EVMs and ballot papers.
The apex court bench of Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi held a view 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.
The court had even directed the election commission to introduce a button providing for NOTA in the EVMs and also in the ballot papers.
