SC Bats For Mandating a Minimum Percentage of Votes In Case of Unopposed Elections

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 24) asked the Union government and the Election Commission of India (EC) if it can be laid down in the election law to make a certain percentage of votes mandatory even when there is only on candidate in the fray.

“Will it not be a very welcome and progressive step where only one candidate is left in free [fray] and still you say that you will be declared election [elected] only when you get at least 10%, 15% (votes), whatever…,” asked Justice Surya Kant to the Centre and the EC, reported Indian Express.

The two-judge bench, also comprising Justice N.K. Singh, made the observations while hearing a plea by ‘Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy’.

The petition prays that section 53(2) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, in so far as it applies to direct elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies be read down or struck down as unconstitutional.

“Our Constitution, and we salute it, is one of the most dynamic… It says that democracy by majority… So when we talk of the majority as the foundation stone of the democracy, why not in furtherance of achieving that very goal, we prescribe that even in a default direction, there should be at least some voters who are liking you,” said Justice Kant.

Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, who appeared for the petitioner, gave the example of a hypothetical situation where 3-4 candidates file nominations from a constituency and every candidate except one withdraw on the last day.

Datar said if there are 1 lakh voters in the constituency of whom 10,000 want to vote for the candidate but 25,000 people want to vote NOTA, should they be not entitled to do so?

“NOTA you have accepted, after the judgment of this court, as expressing the will by a voter. But here, you are in fact helpless… so are the voters. This situation may arise, may not arise. But in case, if you have a proposal like this that where eventually more than one candidate files nomination and at the last moment, the other candidates would go and there is only one candidate left, then at least say you can say…10%, 15%, 25 % voters will be required to vote for it,” said Justice Kant.

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