Over one and a half lakh voters in Gujarat and nearly 10,000 voters in Himachal Pradesh pressed the NOTA button, expressing their wish that none of the candidates were suitable to be elected to the assembly.

In Gujarat, 158934 voters opted for NOTA (None of the Above). They form 1.9 percent of the total votes counted in 173 of the 182 constituencies.

In Himachal Pradesh, 9887 votes pressed the NOTA button, forming 0.9 percent of the total votes counted in 61 of the 68 constituencies.

NOTA was introduced by the election commission of India on October 11, 2013, following a supreme court order on September 27.

A specific symbol of a big cross on a ballot paper appears at the end of the panel in all elections. The main objective of the NOTA option is to enable electors who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates to exercise their right not to vote for any candidate without violation of the secrecy of their decision.