Bhopal, April 25 (Inditop) As many as 1,473 voters in Madhya Pradesh did not cast their vote during the first phase of elections on April 23 as they did not find a suitable candidate to vote for, an election official Saturday said.
The voters came to the polling booth, got their name registered and then went out without voting for anyone when the state went to the polls for 13 parliamentary seats April 23.
The State Election Commission has for the first time in election history tabulated and found that 1,473 votes were cast under Section 49(0) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
Section 49(0) allows a person to go to a polling booth, register his/her presence by signing and then not vote for any candidate. Such votes are recorded by the presiding officer and are considered rejection of all candidates in the fray.
The highest number of votes cast under section 49(0) were 712 in Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency which incidentally also recorded the lowest voting at 43.21 percent.
This was followed by 418 in Bhopal constituency, 189 in Chhindwara, 41 in Betul, 31 in Satna, 20 in Balaghat, 17 in Rewa, 15 in Vidisha, 14 in Shahdol, seven each in Jabalpur and Hoshangabad, four in Mandla and two in Sidhi.
rounak