<p>Some voters may be excited after pressing the “None-of-the-Above” or NOTA buttons on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recent state polls, but all their votes would be treated as invalid when counting takes place on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Election Commission on Saturday clarified that the votes polled by pressing <br />the NOTA buttons on the EVMs would not be considered valid. <br /><br />The EC sent out the clarification to the Chief Electoral Officers of all the states and Union Territories, just on the eve of the counting of the votes polled during the recent Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan and the National Capital Territory of Delhi on Sunday.<br /><br />Security deposits<br /><br />The poll panel issued the clarification to make it clear that the votes polled by pressing the NOTA buttons on the EVMs would not be taken into account to identify the candidates who would forfeit the security deposits. <br /><br />“The votes polled against the NOTA option cannot be treated as valid votes. Under Section 158 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, it is the total number of valid votes polled by all the contesting candidates that is to be taken into account for calculating the one-sixth of the votes polled by individual candidates for return of security deposit,” the EC wrote to all the chief electoral officers. <br /><br />A candidate trying his luck in an Assembly poll has to make a security deposit of Rs 5,000 while submitting the nomination papers. The amount security deposit goes up to Rs 10,000 for each candidate for the parliamentary polls.<br /><br />The losing candidates, who get less than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all contestants, forfeit their security deposits.<br /></p>
<p>Some voters may be excited after pressing the “None-of-the-Above” or NOTA buttons on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recent state polls, but all their votes would be treated as invalid when counting takes place on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Election Commission on Saturday clarified that the votes polled by pressing <br />the NOTA buttons on the EVMs would not be considered valid. <br /><br />The EC sent out the clarification to the Chief Electoral Officers of all the states and Union Territories, just on the eve of the counting of the votes polled during the recent Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan and the National Capital Territory of Delhi on Sunday.<br /><br />Security deposits<br /><br />The poll panel issued the clarification to make it clear that the votes polled by pressing the NOTA buttons on the EVMs would not be taken into account to identify the candidates who would forfeit the security deposits. <br /><br />“The votes polled against the NOTA option cannot be treated as valid votes. Under Section 158 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, it is the total number of valid votes polled by all the contesting candidates that is to be taken into account for calculating the one-sixth of the votes polled by individual candidates for return of security deposit,” the EC wrote to all the chief electoral officers. <br /><br />A candidate trying his luck in an Assembly poll has to make a security deposit of Rs 5,000 while submitting the nomination papers. The amount security deposit goes up to Rs 10,000 for each candidate for the parliamentary polls.<br /><br />The losing candidates, who get less than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all contestants, forfeit their security deposits.<br /></p>
