Click to play videoNew Delhi: With General Elections around the corner, it is not just politicians but Netizens, too, who are busy launching campaigns in cyberspace.
But this one isn’t about voting for candidates, in fact it is calling for an option for voters to reject all candidates in a particular constituency – negative voting is the latest buzzword on social networking sites and blogs.
“Right at the bottom of the EVM there should be an option of a button saying you don’t want to vote for any of the above. That gets registered and counted. That number needs to go out to the public and tell the political class how many people are against any of the candidates,” media professional and Facebook Group creator Sharif Rangnekar said.
Sharif's Facebook Group called ‘Vote for None of the Above’ has sparked off debates among voters of all age groups and bloggers, too, are supporting this new train of thought.
But will this concept work in India?
“Not workable and not relevant. Despite many flaws, people feel the choice they have of choosing their leader is a big thing for them and also a lot of people we think as corrupt or uncaring are actually much more rooted to their own communities,” political analyst Ajoy Bose said.
Versions of negative voting already exist in some countries. In Spain, France, Belgium and Switzerland voters have a blank vote option. Although, they are not in favour of any candidate, they are still counted.
Presently, under Rule 49-0 of the Election Conduct Rules in India, a voter can go to a polling booth and then declare in writing that he/she refuses to vote for any of the candidates.
In 2004, the Election Commission had recommended the inclusion of the "vote for none of the above" button in Electronic Voting Machines. A Supreme Court Bench has now referred the matter to a larger bench who will now decide if this concept could really work in the Indian democracy.
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