As whole of the Karnataka state is in the election mood, from past few weeks quite a few mails & blog posts were circulating around the internet informing people to make effective use of the section ‘49-O of The Conduct of Election rules, 1961′ to keep the corrupt politicians away from seat of power. The content of the mail goes like this…
“Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section “49-O” that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he doesn’t want to vote anyone!
Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it. This is called “49-O”. Why should you go and say “I VOTE NOBODY”… because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that Particular ward has received “49-O” votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them. This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way; of our whole political system… it is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public.
Please spread this news to as many as you know…Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India …show your power, expressing your desire not to Vote for anybody, is even more powerful than voting… so don’t missyour chance.“
At the first sight the whole concept seemed to be brilliant. But, i was bit suspicious about the existence of such an option in the constitution & it compelled me to do more research about it to know the actual fact. After Googling for few hours, i got some food for my thoughts & it helped me to know the truth. Yes, there is a section called 49-O in the constitution which gives us the right for choosing not to vote for anybody. But, it doesn’t mention anything about re-election or something else if the 49′o votes are more than the winning votes. So, the second part conveyed in the mail was a total myth. I don’t know which ‘Mahaanubhaava’ was responsible for creating such a fairy story.
This is what we can find in the section 49-O of the constitution,
“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 only purpose of this section seems to be to prevent the election fraud or the misuse of votes. So, don’t get fooled if you receive any such hoax mails about 49-O.