Has quality of elected leaders improved? Supreme Court casts doubt on NOTA
India Today
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi examined the broader impact of NOTA and patterns of voter participation across social groups.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed doubt about whether the introduction of the None of the Above (NOTA) option in Indian elections has led to any tangible improvement in the quality of elected representatives. The observation came during the hearing of a plea seeking to make NOTA mandatory in all elections, including those where only a single candidate is in the fray.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi examined the broader impact of NOTA and patterns of voter participation across social groups.
Questioning the effectiveness of the option, Justice Bagchi remarked, "Has the quality of elected leaders improved with NOTA? Because what tells us is that educated, well-off people vote less and the economically weaker section vote more".
The bench noted that voter apathy appeared more pronounced among educated and affluent sections, despite the availability of NOTA, while economically weaker sections continued to participate actively in the electoral process.
CJI Surya Kant suggested that the issue of low voter turnout might require innovative measures.
"Sometimes we think we need to issue some kind of compulsory but not harsh mechanism to ensure that people go and vote. It (mechanism) may not be punitive in nature. In rural areas.. women who are exempted from taking up labour or construction works, they have sigh of relief as they go in groups to cast votes, while singing songs etc.," he observed.
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