The Supreme Court, which today allowed casting of "negative votes", noted that this provision can be provided in existing electronic voting machines (EVMs) without any "additional cost" or change in the technology.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam passed the judgement, noting the submission of the Election Commission (EC) that no additional cost, effort or change in design or technology of EVMs is required to include the option of "None Of The Above (NOTA)" in the EVMs.
"It was explicitly asserted in the written submission (of EC) that the provision for the above facility for a negative or neutral vote can be provided in existing the EVMs without any additional cost or administrative effort or change in design or technology of the existing machines...
"Taking note of the submissions of EC, we are of the view that the implementation of the NOTA button will not require much effort except for allotting the last panel in the EVM for the same," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, said.
It asked EC to implement the negative voting system either in a phased manner or in one go with the assistance of the Centre and directed the government to provide necessary help for implementation of its direction.
