For the first time in the history of lok Sabha elections ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) as an option will be presented to voters of Jharkhand however spreading awareness about the option is the one of the area of preparation where the Election Commission seems to be relying solely on newspapers, social media and other social groups.
Nonetheless, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has stuck with the principle of staying neutral in spreading awareness about the button with convincing reasons. Notably, the button will feature at the bottom of the electronic voting machine (EVM).
“We cannot say anyone to not to vote any candidate. We would like media to spread awareness about it,” maintained Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand P K Jajoria.
The option of showing dislike for candidates in fray was provided by a Supreme Court ruling but lack of awareness combined with the wastage of vote led a thin percentage of voters actually pressing the button in the recently concluded elections for State Assemblies.
Notwithstanding reluctance on the part of Election Commission, independent election watchdogs have begun exercise in the direction of sensitizing people about inducements by political parties and exercise the option of showing dislike about candidates by pressing the NOTA button wherever they deem it fit to use.
“We are conducting meetings, besides road shows at block level to spread awareness about sanctity of electoral process and NOTA,” said State coordinator of Association of Democratic Reforms.
The Jharkhand chapter of the watchdog claims to have organised several rounds of meetings and conducted road shows in Palamu and Jarmundi to disseminate information about the NOTA with similar programmes in as many as 34 blocks in near future.
Significantly, poll preparations are in full swing with the preliminary trial run of the electronic voting machine (EVM) already completed. However, the number of EVMs likely to be used in the voting is yet to be ascertained especially in the wake of the introduction of NOTA.
“Since NOTA will be the last option on the EVM which has 16 buttons the number of EVMs may vary according to number of candidates in the field,” pointed out the CEO.