Rule 49-O, The Right to Vote for 'None of the Above'.

To:  The Prime Minister of India

Dear Mr Prime Minister,

Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai Terrorists Attacks have once again made us realise how we are left out of the present Indian Election system. Although we vote, we don’t really have much choice. Invariably, we are made to choose to vote from amongst all the very same people we have been fighting against!

As concerned citizens, we urge you to restore the country’s faith in our Democracy by giving the citizens the RIGHT TO VOTE FOR ‘NONE OF THE ABOVE’. A large number of voters do not vote because they feel they have no REAL CHOICE. By giving the citizens the option of rejecting all the candidates, we let the voters know that they DO have a say in who does, or more importantly, who does not, govern their country.

The Right to Information has given the citizens immense confidence, now this option is the only way to restore people’s faith in YOUR COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE AND EQUALITY without which there is no Democracy.

For this, “the law should be amended to specifically provide for negative / neutral voting. For this purpose, Rules 22 and 49B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 may be suitably amended adding a provision that in the ballot paper and the particulars on the ballot unit, in the column relating to names of candidates, after the entry relating to the last candidate, there shall be a column ‘None of the above’, to enable a voter to reject all the candidates, if he chooses so. Such a proposal was earlier made by the Commission in 2001 (vide letter dated 10.12.2001)."

Thank You,

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Rule 49-O, The Right to Vote for 'None of the Above'. Petition to The Prime Minister of India was created by and written by Seema Rao (oaramees@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.