New Delhi: The Election Commission has finally approved a symbol for the NOTA (None Of The Above) option on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
A small ballot paper with a black cross on it will be the new symbol for NOTA.
The symbol will make its debut in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections and Surat Assembly bypolls.
It has been designed by Prof Tarun Deep Girdher of NID, Ahmedabad.
Prof Girdher and his team worked in close collaboration with Gujarat chief electoral officer Anita Karwal to design this symbol. The team took more than 5 months to finalise the sign.
The NOTA button on EVMs was introduced in 2013 after the Supreme Court ruled that the right to register a "none of the above" vote in elections should apply and ordered the Election Commission to provide such a button in the EVMs.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, NOTA polled 1.1% of the votes, counting to over 6 million.⎫]
