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Many Vadodara youth want to ‘vote for nobody’

Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a vigorous campaign through different media, making people aware that casting one's vote is a democratic right.

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With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a vigorous campaign through different media, making people aware that casting one's vote is a democratic right, and exercising that right is a civic duty of the highest order. But what if a voter doesn't find any of the candidates in fray from his constituency suitable for his or her vote!

For some, the answer is - I Vote Nobody. As per Section '49-O' of 1969 Act, a citizen has the right to cast a vote by using 'I Vote Nobody', which means the citizen is not finding any of the contesting candidates eligible for his vote but the electronic voting machine (EVM) doesn't have the 'I Vote Nobody' facility. 

“The present EVM reflects a system in which a voter has to choose one of the candidates so that his or her vote could be counted. There is no provision to record the voter's desire to participate in the voting by not selecting any candidate in the fray.” Said Rohit Prajapati, a political activist.

As per Section 41(2) of 'The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961', we can return our ballot paper and by that we can exercise our right to vote without casting vote in favour of any candidate. Now we do not have that choice with the EVM,” adds Prajapati.
At a time when political parties are vying with each other to woo voters, many young Barodians said that they didn't find any of the candidates contesting from their constituency worth their votes. “We have not forgotten terrorist attacks on Mumbai, serial bomb blasts and our corrupt leaders,” said a voter and added that the candidates who are contesting from his constituency are not the persons whom he would like to see as his leader.  Kaushal Joshi (20), a final year graduation student in Vadodara, said,

“Our government and leaders have failed in fighting terrorism and local issues. I am not willing to vote for any of the candidates as I don't feel they deserve my valuable vote.”

“Instead of voting for someone who just doesn't deserve to be a leader and doesn't have the leadership qualities, I would prefer not to vote. The way our leaders are making politics a dirty game, I don't feel to give my vote to them,” said Viki Shah (23).

Hemal Bhatt (29), a businessman, said, “We already have very low poll percentage in every election as many voters don't know the candidate's profile or don't find any candidate eligible for their votes. I think there must be a system through which we can express that we want to vote but don't find any contestant fit to be selected.”

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