PUNE: The State Election Commission (SEC) has sought legal opinion for conducting re-election for constituencies registering a high percentage of None of the Above ( NOTA ) votes.SEC commissioner JS Saharia told TOI on Saturdaythat they have sought advice from the legal counsel regarding the issue as they have recorded increasing NOTA votes polled in corporation and even in panchayat polls.“We have already sought legal opinion on the issue. We are awaiting a final verdict and are also checking the provisions under the existing legal framework,” Saharia said.In February this year, Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao had also called for deliberation over the role of NOTA votes in the polling system. “This demand was agreed upon by political parties and NGOs in meetings on electoral reforms,” SEC officials said.A recent report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that works on political and electoral reforms had recommended re-elections in constituencies registering more NOTA votes. State government officials said the ECI has to take a final decision on the issue aheadof theLok Sabha and assembly elections in 2019. “If there were any changes to be made, Maharashtra would be the first to bring in the reform for local elections,” they added.Maharashtra ADR coordinator Sharad Kumar said if reelection is allowed for constituencies with more NOTA votes, it would give more value to such votes. “If it is possible to do it for local self-government, the ECI can do it too,” he added.District election officials have written to the municipal corporations in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, demanding the availability of 620 Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) who had not been reporting for duty over the past three months. The BLOs are key to the success of the door-to-door voter registration campaign that wraps up by month-end.The district has 7,534 polling booths and requires the same number of BLOs. However, only 6,914 BLOs had reported for the special drives conducted on June 23 and July 14.“We have already talked to the corporation heads and the education officers. The BLOs, mainly from the teaching fraternity, must compulsorily carry out this work,” said deputy election officer Monica Singh.Collector Naval Kishore Ram has already warned of stringent action against errant BLOs. Meanwhile, voters must fill Form 7 if they have voting rights in another city/state, and file an application stating they have requested for name deletion in the area.

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