In the recently concluded Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, more than one lakh voters in Mumbai opted for the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option. This trend has highlighted a sense of dissatisfaction among voters in these crucial municipal elections.
According to data released by the Election Commission, out of a total 54,76,043 votes cast on January 15, as many as 1,00,327 voters pressed NOTA. The overall voter turnout stood at 52.94 percent, of which 1.83 percent of the votes were cast in favor of NOTA.
The western suburbs recorded the highest number as well as the highest percentage of NOTA votes. From Dahisar to Bandra, 47,936 voters chose NOTA, accounting for 1.9 percent of the votes cast in that belt.
Notably, this region also witnessed the highest voter turnout in the city. Ward 18 in Borivali recorded a turnout of 62.04 percent, followed by Ward 4 in Dahisar with 60.67 percent turnout, according to Election Commission data quoted by Mid-Day.
In the eastern suburbs, stretching from Bhandup to Sion, 29,101 voters opted for NOTA, which constituted 1.7 percent of the total votes cast in that zone. Meanwhile, areas such as Colaba, Mahim, and Matunga recorded 23,290 NOTA votes, amounting to 1.8 percent of the votes in those localities.
In South Mumbai, Ward 226 saw a notably high proportion of NOTA votes, with 1,404 voters choosing the option, the highest in the region. This accounted for 5.1 percent of the total votes in the ward, where overall turnout was 50 percent. Following directions from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India introduced the NOTA option in September 2013.
This option allows voters who do not wish to support any candidate to exercise their right to vote without compromising the secrecy of their preference.
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