No NOTA in Kerala local body elections; ‘end’ button serves as exit option

Kottayam: ‘NOTA’, short for None of the Above, is an option that allows voters to express dissent by choosing none of the contesting candidates. not included in local body elections.

In local polls, the ballot does not include the NOTA option. Instead, voters who do not wish to support any candidate for the gram panchayat, block panchayat or district panchayat can press the “End” button and exit the polling booth. The “End” button appears at the bottom of the ballot used for district panchayat elections. Voters also have the option of voting for only one level of local body and skipping the others. For instance, a voter may cast vote for a gram panchayat candidate, skip the block and district panchayat candidates, press the “End” button and leave.

If a voter forgets to press the “End” button, polling staff must press it to reset the machine. However, municipalities and corporation ballots do not have an “End” button at all.

Local body elections in Kerala are conducted by the State Election Commission under the Panchayat Raj Act and the Municipality Act. Introducing NOTA would require amendments to these laws and their rules.

The Supreme Court directed the inclusion of NOTA in voting machines in 2013, after which the Election Commission of India approved its use. Kerala first implemented NOTA during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when 2,10,563 voters chose the option.

Including India, countries like Greece, United States, Ukraine and Spain have similar provisions.