You can’t cast a negative vote in February 16 polls

You will not have the option to cast a negative vote on February 16.

You will not have the option to cast a negative vote on February 16.

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The Election Commission on Monday told the Bombay high court that it would not be possible to include the negative vote - ‘none of the above’ candidates - option in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for the civic polls.

The EC’s lawyer said the poll dates were declared on January 3 and the symbols for candidates allotted only on Monday, so there was not enough time to make it happen this year.

Earlier, while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Thane-based Dr Mahesh Bedekar about the inclusion of a negative-vote button in EVMs, the court had asked the EC and the State Election Commission to consider whether they can add the negative vote button on the EVMs, just as they incorporated the Braille symbols to aide visually impaired voters.

The petitioner’s lawyer had argued that the system where a voter has to fill a form if she or he does not want to vote for any of the candidates should be scrapped to maintain the voter’s privacy.

The court has adjourned the hearing till Wednesday, giving the EC time to file a detailed affidavit.