Time to consider reforms that make NOTA more impactful: Ex-EC Ashok Lavasa

Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa on Tuesday called for giving the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option more teeth, saying it is time to consider reforms that make NOTA more impactful while safeguarding the electoral process from becoming dysfunctional.
Lavasa was speaking at a webinar titled ‘Is It Time to Give NOTA More Teeth?’ organised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
He noted that although the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling introducing NOTA was a landmark step in strengthening democratic choice, it has not led to meaningful change in candidate quality.
“The purpose was to improve the quality of representation,” he said. He also recalled how the court expected NOTA to pressure political parties into fielding cleaner candidates.
“But India’s own data shows that the number of candidates with criminal antecedents has actually gone up,” he said.
The former election commissioner said while NOTA empowers citizens to reject unfit candidates, its current form lacks consequence. “Even if NOTA gets the highest number of votes, it doesn’t impact the result. Shouldn’t we now consider whether elections must be held again if NOTA tops the count?” Lavasa said. He suggested three major reforms for public debate — introducing a minimum vote threshold for a candidate to be declared elected, re-elections if NOTA garners more votes than any candidate and pushing for greater inner-party democracy to ensure better candidate selection.
“The right to reject everyone is also part of the right to vote. So, in that sense, I think it was a very welcome move.
“I am tempted to think that even now, with India having recorded the highest percentage of votes, which is 67% or there about we still have about 33% people who don’t vote. So can we say that those who don’t vote are also rejecting people?” he said.
Lavasa also opposed compulsory voting, calling it “not a viable option” in a democracy. Instead, he stressed the need to empower voters by giving their rejection more weight. “A voter coming to the booth and selecting NOTA is a far more assertive act than simply staying home,” he said.
Right to Information (RTI) activist Anjali Bhardwaj echoed Lavasa’s concerns, pointing out that recent elections have shown worrying trends that bypass NOTA altogether. “In 2024, we saw unreasonable rejections of candidates and allegations of coercion leading to uncontested wins. In such cases, the very idea of people using NOTA is rendered meaningless,” she said.
She cited examples from constituencies like Surat, where candidates either withdrew or were allegedly pressured into withdrawing after the last date for nominations, leading to uncontested wins.
“It seemed a result was declared even before people got a chance to vote,” Bhardwaj said.
“When people find only candidates with criminal records on the ballot, NOTA is their only tool to express dissent. It’s a vital instrument flowing from their right to expression under Article 19(1)(a),” she added. —————————