NOTA, “None of the Above”, is the last option on the voting machine, below the final candidate. It lets you record that you turned up, and that you did not want to support anyone on the ballot.
It is a real, counted, secret vote. What it is not is a mechanism for rejecting an election, and the difference is worth being clear about before you use it.
Where it came from
NOTA was introduced following a Supreme Court direction in 2013, and has appeared on Indian ballots since.
The reasoning was about secrecy. A voter who wanted to reject every candidate could previously do so only by recording that refusal in the polling station register, which meant doing it in the open, in front of officials and party agents. NOTA moved that choice inside the voting booth, where every other vote is cast.
What it actually does
NOTA votes are counted and reported alongside every candidate’s total. You can look up the NOTA count for any constituency in the official results.
And that is where its effect ends. The candidate with the most valid votes still wins, even if NOTA receives more votes than that candidate. A high NOTA count does not void the election, does not trigger a re-poll, and does not disqualify anybody.
So NOTA is a recorded expression of dissatisfaction. It is not a veto.
Does it help or hurt a particular side?
Arithmetically, choosing NOTA is closer to not voting for anyone than to voting against someone.
Under first-past-the-post, a seat goes to whoever polls the most votes. If you would otherwise have voted for a candidate and choose NOTA instead, you have removed one vote from their total and added nothing to anyone else’s. In a close contest that is a real effect, and it is not neutral between the candidates.
Whether that is a reason to use it or a reason not to is a judgement for the voter. It is simply worth knowing what the arithmetic does.
NOTA and forfeited deposits
A common claim is that NOTA votes push candidates below the threshold at which they lose their security deposit. A candidate forfeits their deposit if they fail to secure more than one-sixth of the valid votes polled, so the size of the NOTA count does affect the arithmetic around that threshold.
It is a marginal, technical consequence rather than the point of the option, and it changes nothing about who wins.
Using it
NOTA is the bottom button on the ballot unit, after the last candidate. Pressing it casts your vote exactly like any other: your VVPAT slip prints, confirming it was recorded.
You must still be on the electoral roll, still attend your assigned booth, and still carry acceptable identification. NOTA is a choice on the ballot, not an alternative to turning up.
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