FAILURE OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION IN EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT NOTA
This Article is an analysis to evaluate the efforts of the Election Commission of India to educate the masses about NOTA pursuant to the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court,in its Judgement dated 27th September 2013,in Writ Petition (Civil) No.161 of 2004 (People's Union for Civil Liberties & Anr vs Union of India & Anr) based on documents supplied to me by the Election Commission of India in regard to my email and RTI Application.
After direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court to introduce NOTA in the ballot papers/EVMs and educate the masses about NOTA,Loksabha General Election of 2014 and assembly elections in 25 States/UTs have taken place till now.Twice in Delhi.
In the letter vide No.976 of the Commission of dated 20th June,2016, it has been informed to me that in pursuance of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's Judgement,the Election Commission of India has issued instructions vide its letter No.576/3/2013/SDR dated 11.10.2013 for compliance of the same.But this instructions of dated 11.10.2013 only relates to introduce NOTA in the ballot papers/EVMs and nothing is written in this instructions relating to educate the masses about NOTA.
The first Circular issued by the Election Commission of India directing the Chief Electoral Officers of Chhattisgarh,Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Mizoram and Delhi ahead of assembly elections in these States/UTs to educate the masses about NOTA was of dated 31/10/2013 which i came to know by the RTI reply of the Commission of dated 2nd December,2015.
The second and last Circular issued by the Election Commission of India directing the Chief Electoral Officers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu,West Bengal and Puducherry ahead of assembly elections in these States/UTs to educate the masses about NOTA was of dated 18/04/2016 which i came to know by the letter of the Commission of dated 20th June 2016.
But from the date of judgement of Supreme Court i.e.27/09/2013 to the date of RTI reply to me i.e.20/06/2016 legislative assembly elections had taken place in 20 States/UTs and out of 20,Chief Electoral Offiers of only 9 States/UTs,as mentioned above,were directed and besides direction nothing happened for awareness about NOTA even in these 9 States/UTs.No such direction to aware people about NOTA was issued ahead of Loksabha General Election of 2014.Out of 20,11 other States where Assembly Elections held during these periods but even direction was not issued by the Election Commission to aware people about NOTA are Andhra Pradesh,Arunachal Pradesh,Assam,Bihar,Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir,Jharkhand,Maharashtra,Odisha, Sikkim and Telangana.
In Delhi Assembly Election of 2013,direction was issued to educate about NOTA,but in Delhi Assembly Election of 2015,no such direction was issued.
In Delhi Assembly Election of 2013,direction was issued to educate about NOTA,but in Delhi Assembly Election of 2015,no such direction was issued.
It appears from the perusal of various Circulars/Notifications issued by the Election Commission of India in connection with present 2017 Assembly Elections of Punjab,Goa,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur that even direction has not been issued to the Chief Electoral Officers of these States to aware people about NOTA.
The Election Commission has taken new initiatives in Assembly Elections of 2017 like distribution of Voter Guide Brochure along with Photo Voter Slip to all electors and display of four Voter Facilitation Posters (VFPs) at Polling Stations on the Poll day.Notifications pertaining to Voter Guide Brochure do not mention anything about incorporation of information related to NOTA in Voter Guide Brochure and pertaining to Voter Facilitation Posters (VFPs) do not mention anything about incorporation of information related to NOTA in Voter Facilitation Posters (VFPs).
It may be concluded that Election Commission of India is violating the direction of the Supreme Court.
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