In the year 2013, the Supreme Court (SC) has given the power to reject the entire contesting candidates in the election process by selecting “None of the Above (NOTA)”. Before this, it was not in practice; elector has to select one of the contesting candidates to exercise their voting right. The power of the NOTA button was widely used in 2014, general electing of India. Figure mention below depicts the pattern of using NOTA option during the general election of 2014 in different states of India.
Source: Election Commission of India
The electors of Puducherry (2.47%) and Meghalaya (1.92%) were the leading in pressing NOTA option during the election. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu were the large population states where NOTA option reported more than 1 per cent. There were around 18 large and small population states where NOTA button exercised between 0.5 to 1 per cent. However, the percentage of electors opting NOTA button was significantly less but picture changed when it comes in numbers. Altogether, 55.40 lakhs voters were not convinced with any of the contestant, contested in their constituency during last general election (2014).
Number of voters exercised NOTA button in General Election of India 2014
| State | Total Number of Electors | TOTAL Number of Nota voted | Total % of NOTA |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 269360 | 1564 | 0.58% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 64934138 | 340554 | 0.52% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 759344 | 6321 | 0.83% |
| Assam | 18837713 | 147057 | 0.78% |
| Bihar | 63800160 | 580964 | 0.91% |
| Chandigarh | 615214 | 3106 | 0.50% |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 196597 | 2962 | 1.51% |
| Daman & Diu | 111827 | 1316 | 1.18% |
| Goa | 1060777 | 10103 | 0.95% |
| Gujarat | 40603104 | 454885 | 1.12% |
| Haryana | 16097233 | 34220 | 0.21% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4810071 | 29155 | 0.61% |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 7183129 | 31550 | 0.44% |
| Jharkhand | 20349796 | 190927 | 0.94% |
| Karnataka | 46209813 | 257881 | 0.56% |
| Kerala | 24326650 | 210563 | 0.87% |
| Lakshadweep | 49922 | 123 | 0.25% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 48121301 | 391837 | 0.81% |
| Maharashtra | 80798823 | 433171 | 0.54% |
| Manipur | 1774369 | 7504 | 0.42% |
| Meghalaya | 1567241 | 30145 | 1.92% |
| Mizoram | 702170 | 6495 | 0.92% |
| Nagaland | 1182972 | 2696 | 0.23% |
| NCT OF Delhi | 12711164 | 39690 | 0.31% |
| Puducherry | 901357 | 22268 | 2.47% |
| Punjab | 19608161 | 58754 | 0.30% |
| Rajasthan | 42994657 | 327911 | 0.76% |
| Sikkim | 370770 | 4332 | 1.17% |
| Tamil Nadu | 55114867 | 581782 | 1.06% |
| Tripura | 2388822 | 23783 | 1.00% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 138810557 | 592331 | 0.43% |
| Uttarakhand | 7127057 | 48043 | 0.67% |
| West Bengal | 62833113 | 571294 | 0.91% |
Source: Election Commission of India
