Bihar Polls: How NOTA's vote share has changed between 2015 and 2020

The counting of votes is underway in the Bihar Assembly elections, with major political parties and alliances vying for power for the next five years in the politically-important state. While there were a number of star campaigners battling for votes during the three-phase polls, a small group of voters chose to exercise another option: 'None of the Above' (NOTA).

Follow live updates on the Bihar counting day here

First used in Bihar in 2015, NOTA recieved a moderate response in the state, receiving 9,47,279 votes of the 3,81,20,124 valid votes tabulated by the Election Commission of India, amounting to 2.48% of the vote share.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, however, NOTA appears to have lost its touch, receiving a little over 7,06,502 votes, amounting to just 1.7% of the total votes tabulated by the ECI, marking a 74% fall in number of votes.

Follow Bihar's constituency-wise results updates here

NOTA is a voting option offered to voters who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates standing for election in their constituency. It was introduced in 2009 but was first used in 2013 in the Assembly elections held in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

A quirk with respect to NOTA is that if the option receives the highest number of votes in a given seat or constituency, the election to that seat is not invalidated. Instead, the candidate with the next highest number of votes after NOTA is chosen as the winner. It is possible that this condition might have played a role in the reduction of votes given to NOTA.