National Voter’s Day

14th Jan, 2016

National Voter’s Day

The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. Nasim Zaidi said that National Voters Day is mark of the power of every individual vote. 

This year’s theme is ‘inclusive and qualitative participation’ and slogan is that ‘no voter should be left behind’. 

26th Jan, 2016

This constitutional body came into existence on January 25, 1950 just a day before the celebration of the first Republic Day. 

Article 326 of the Constitution had fixed the minimum qualifying age of voting at 21 years. But, there were persistent demands that the voting age should be lower. Finally, the Constitution (Sixty-First) Amendment Act, lowered the minimum qualifying age to 18 years.

NOTA

The Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court in 2009 that it wished to offer the voter a "none of the above" option on ballots, which the government had generally opposed.

On 27 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the right to register a "none of the above" vote in elections should apply, and ordered the Election Commission to provide such a button in the electronic voting machines, noting that it would increase participation.

The Election Commission also clarified that even though votes casted as NOTA are counted, they are considered as invalid votes so they will not change the outcome of the election process. They are not taken into account for calculating the total valid votes and will not be considered for determining the forfeiture of security deposit.

Before the NOTA option came in existence, people casting negative votes were required to enter their names in a register and cast their vote on a separate paper ballot.

Under Section 49 (O) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, a voter could enter his electoral serial number in Form 17A and cast a negative vote. The presiding officer would then put a remark in the form and get it signed by the voter. This was done to prevent fraud or misuse of votes.

This provision was, however, deemed unconstitutional by the SC as it did not protect the identity of the voter.