Patterns of NOTA Voting in India: Voting from the Margins

Since October 2013, Indian voters have the option of voting "None of the Above" if they choose to not vote for any of the candidates contesting in an election. It has been nearly five years since nota's implementation, but how the option is used is not yet understood well. An examination of the initial trends in such voting shows that there is considerable regional variation. There is no indication that nota is higher in areas with a higher urban or literate population. Moreover, findings suggest that nota voting is not associated with rising turnout and increasing criminality in elections.