MOSCOW, June 24 (RAPSI) – MP Margarita Svergunova (LDPR) has submitted a bill to the State Duma that would return the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option to ballots for all types of elections, the lower house said on its website on Wednesday.

An explanatory note to the bill says the option was deleted in 2006. According to Svergunova, that decision did not promote “a positive attitude toward elections and has greatly decreased public interest in exercising voting rights.”

Current law allows Russian regions to add the NOTA option to ballots for local elections. However, very few regions have used this right. Thus, the option must be added to ballots for all types of elections, Svergunova said.

She believes that this would enhance public interest in exercising their election rights and hence would increase voter turnout.