Conduct of Elections , 1961 (rule 49 O) - Elector deciding not to vote

This is from a mail i recieved from one of my friends, and my response to it.

well, i did some background check on the 49 O

this is what i found from the Conduct of Elections , 1961 from the Law Ministry site(http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/cer1.htm)

"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."

"49L. Procedure for voting by voting machines.-(1) Before permitting an elector to vote, the polling officer shall-
(a) record the electoral roll number of the elector as entered in the marked copy of the electoral roll in a register of voters in Form 17A.
(b) obtain the signature or the thumb impression of the elector on the said register of votes; and
(c) mark the name of the elector in the marked copy of the electoral roll to indicate that he has been allowed to vote:
Provided that no elector shall be allowed to vote unless he has his signature or thumb impression on the register of voters.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (2) of rule 2, it shall be necessary for any presiding officer or polling officer or any other officer to attest the thumb impression of the elector on the register of voters."

Its a true shame that ppl dont know the beautiful provisions in our own Law. I think GOI and P&B Dept must be charged with aversion of truth.

God knows what other good provisions are there in the law that is similarly hidden to even educated ppl of the nation.

--- xxxx@****> wrote:

> People�
> Please take some time to read this entire mail. You
> will definitely feel its
> worth.
>
> Hope some of you have already got this mail and got
> to know about the *49'O*..
>
> It says :
>
> "In a particular constituency, if a voter has
> dislike to all of the
> candidates competing there,
> Then he can show his dislike to all of them by
> registering for *49'O*.
> Steps for doing this :
> 1. while registering the name by the time of
> voting, convey the booth
> officials that "I want to go for *49'O*".
> 2. Register your signature in the *49'O* form
> available there.
>
> Done.
> Now, if the number of *49'O* count is larger than
> that of the winning
> candidates total vote count, then a re-election is
> called there.
>
> The rule 49 (O) of the Conduct of Election Rules
> 1961 gives the electorate
> the right to register at the polling booth, get
> their index finger inked,
> but refrain from casting the vote. The electoral
> officer then has to make
> an entry under the rule, but the noting is not a
> secret.
>
> If the rejection exceeds the number of votes polled,
> a re-election is then
> ordered, *but the rejected candidates do not have
> the right to contest
> again.*
>
> More than all, the shameful fact is,
> This *49'O* is available ever since 1960, but it is
> in no way conveyed to
> the people.
> Neither the government communicate this, nor did the
> election commission.
>
> As long as the people are unaware of this one, the
> political parties are
> enjoying by winning the election and ditching our
> country.
> To stop this disaster to continue further, we don't
> need to take a sword and
> fight against the government.
> Just help every citizen to know that they have such
> a powerful weapon which
> can be used for ensuring their welfare.
>
> None of the media will be ready to publish this
> *49'O*.
> Let us do this by ourselves.
> Communicate this information with all your family,
> friends, neighbors as
> much as you can and let them know their right.
> Please send this mail to everyone you know and
> request them to spread it
> across to everyone.
>
> Convey this information to as many people you know.
> Not only, we get a satisfaction that we have done a
> good service for our
> country's welfare.
>
> This is very well equal to what our patriots have
> done for the independence
> of our country.
>
> Very less time left before the next election drama.
> Before that lets make sure that everyone speaks
> about this word "*49'O*".
>
>
>
> --
> B. M.P