Section 49-O - correction in info on earlier post
My post on Section 49-O was slightly ill-informed. On being told by a friend that the information is not accurate and after a little bit of research - I would like to apologise for putting up the earlier post.
Our Constitution consists of Articles and not Sections - hence when one refers to the 1969 Act, what one is actually referring to is "Conduct of Election Rules, 1961" which has a Section 49-O which is being reproduced below:
49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.
The question is if such an option exists, but is only for statistical purposes, then I feel that we should have an amendment in our election rules, whereby if the electorate by a wide margin decides against voting for any candidate and if the blank votes polled are equal to or exceed the votes polled for a candidate then the voting should be annulled as the electorate did not prefer any of the candidates put up. These candidates should not be allowed to stand for elections again - this would instill fear into the Political Parties and force them to choose candidates with the correct attributes to stand for elections.
What we see today are all kinds of opportunists standing for elections. We have a lot of MLA's/MP's whose net wealth increases many fold in the five years after their election.
We should aim for candidates who defeat the age old adage "Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels". The day we manage to do that we will be progressing towards a better future for our citizens.
Our Constitution consists of Articles and not Sections - hence when one refers to the 1969 Act, what one is actually referring to is "Conduct of Election Rules, 1961" which has a Section 49-O which is being reproduced below:
49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.
The question is if such an option exists, but is only for statistical purposes, then I feel that we should have an amendment in our election rules, whereby if the electorate by a wide margin decides against voting for any candidate and if the blank votes polled are equal to or exceed the votes polled for a candidate then the voting should be annulled as the electorate did not prefer any of the candidates put up. These candidates should not be allowed to stand for elections again - this would instill fear into the Political Parties and force them to choose candidates with the correct attributes to stand for elections.
What we see today are all kinds of opportunists standing for elections. We have a lot of MLA's/MP's whose net wealth increases many fold in the five years after their election.
We should aim for candidates who defeat the age old adage "Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels". The day we manage to do that we will be progressing towards a better future for our citizens.
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