The trends so far show that more people are now opting for the NOTA button as an instrument of lodging a protest against many aspects that they believe are problematic in the political system.
About 8000 voters opted for the none of the above (NOTA) button in elections to the Baramulla Parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir which was won by National Conference's Mohammad Akbar Lone.
In Baramulla constituency of north Kashmir, 7999 voters pressed the NOTA button, an election official said. He said NOTA secured 1.79 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency.
The NOTA secured more votes than four of the nine candidates who were in the fray in the constituency, the official said.
In Udhampur constituency of Jammu region, 7472 voters pressed the NOTA button – more than what seven candidates contesting the seat polled, the official said.
He said the Jammu parliamentary seat polled 2545 NOTA votes – more than 14 candidates in a total of 24 contestants.
Similarly, the official said, in Srinagar constituency, 1566 voters chose NOTA. It was higher than five of the 12 candidates in the fray.
In Ladakh constituency, 910 voters pressed the NOTA button on the EVMs, while the lowest NOTA vote share was recorded in the restive south Kashmir's Anantnag constituency which registered 709 NOTA votes – higher than the vote share of nine candidates, the official said.
