NOTA Stays Marginal in 2026 State Results, Topping 1% Only in Assam

Overview

• Election Commission data from Monday’s count show Assam at 1.29% NOTA, with West Bengal at 0.81%, Puducherry at 0.73%, Kerala near 0.58%, and Tamil Nadu at 0.41%.
• Kerala logged 1,23,067 NOTA votes in 2026, equal to about 0.57%, up from 97,693 or 0.47% in 2021 but below its 2024 Lok Sabha level of 0.79%.
• NOTA, short for None of the Above on electronic voting machines, was added in 2013 after a Supreme Court order to protect ballot secrecy.
• The Supreme Court did not require re-elections even if NOTA leads a seat, so the next highest candidate still wins and many voters choose strategic picks over protest votes.
• Election Commission figures also show a long slide in NOTA use in national polls, from 1.08% in 2014 to 0.99% in 2024, with small state-to-state swings acting as a rough gauge of local discontent.