Lost deposits and NOTA in the 2026 Tamil Nadu election

Of the 4,023 candidates in the April 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, 3,352 (83.3%) lost their deposit. NOTA polled 1,99,805 votes (0.41%), more than the winning margin in 11 of the 234 seats. Checked 11 October 2026 against the Election Commission's results.

Candidates

4,023

Lost the deposit

3,352

NOTA votes

1,99,805

The short version

3,352 of 4,023 candidates lost the deposit: 83.3% of all candidates and 88.5% of those who did not win.
Only 671 kept it: the 234 winners and 437 others who polled more than one-sixth of the valid votes in their seat.
2,208 of the 2,209 independents lost it, and so did all 234 NTK candidates and all 164 candidates of the Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi.
No TVK, DMK or Congress candidate lost a deposit; 19 of 172 AIADMK candidates did.

Five in six candidates lost the deposit; no TVK, DMK or Congress candidate did.

Lost deposits, party by party

Won: 234Kept the deposit: 437Lost the deposit: 3,352

Party	Stood	Lost	Won	Share
Independents	2,209	2,208	0	99.9%
NTK	234	234	0	100.0%
TVK	233	0	108	0.0%
DMK	176	0	59	0.0%
AIADMK	172	19	47	11.0%
TVAK	164	164	0	100.0%
BSP	119	119	0	100.0%
BJP	33	5	1	15.2%
INC	28	0	5	0.0%
Other seat-winning parties	59	8	14	13.6%
82 other parties	596	595	0	99.8%
All	4,023	3,352	234	83.3%

Bar drawn to scale: all 4,023 candidates. Parties as the Election Commission records them. NTK: Naam Tamilar Katchi. TVAK: Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi, which also appears as “TVK” on the Commission's pages and is counted separately here. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party. Other seat-winning parties: PMK, CPI, CPM, IUML, VCK, AMMK, DMDK.

NOTA: the seats where it beat the margin

1,99,805 NOTA votes were cast, 0.41% of the 4,93,24,125 votes counted. Most in one seat: Kavundampalayam, 2,116; fewest: Mailam, 299.
NOTA was never in the top four in any seat, and it outpolled 2,914 of the 4,023 candidates.
NOTA beat the winning margin in 11 seats. In Tiruppattur the margin was 1 and NOTA had 747.

Seat	Margin	NOTA	Won by
Tiruppattur	1	747	TVK
Veppanahalli	138	1,570	DMK
Kanniyakumari	214	825	AIADMK
Polur	227	798	TVK
Tirukkoyilur	285	500	AIADMK

The other 6 seats

Seat	Margin	NOTA	Won by
Paramathi-Velur	308	449	AIADMK
Kulithalai	579	612	DMK
Kumbakonam	679	960	TVK
Palani	693	750	AIADMK
Kallakurichi	798	883	TVK
Udhagamandalam	976	1,525	BJP

NOTA (None of the Above) is not a candidate and cannot win; the figure is the votes it received. A seat is listed when its NOTA votes exceed the gap between the winner and the runner-up.

Crowded seats and thin fields

An average of 17.2 candidates stood in each seat; the median seat had 15.
Most candidates: Karur (79), Perambur (47), Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar (38), Kolathur (35), Salem (West) (31).
Fewest candidates: Kinathukadavu (5), Ambasamudram (5).

Candidates are those on the Election Commission's final list for the seat, with the number in brackets; NOTA is not counted.

All 234 seats: candidates, lost deposits, NOTA

Seat	Candidates	Lost deposit	Votes needed to keep it	NOTA	Margin
Gummidipoondi	15	12	38,598	937	27,945
Ponneri	13	10	37,660	865	55,768
Tiruttani	13	10	39,599	1,210	5,793
Thiruvallur	14	11	37,550	1,132	24,760
Poonamallee	11	9	51,221	1,571	72,740
Avadi	20	18	57,413	1,533	76,311
Maduravoyal	21	18	48,706	1,462	61,509
Ambattur	23	21	43,083	1,490	58,781
Madavaram	15	13	60,101	1,394	94,985
Thiruvottiyur	15	13	34,381	805	53,564
Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar	38	36	30,108	561	49,668
Perambur	47	45	33,964	601	53,715
Kolathur	35	33	30,527	892	8,795
Villivakkam	28	26	23,460	695	17,302
Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar	23	21	23,897	527	22,333
Egmore	18	16	19,841	695	10,804
Royapuram	28	26	21,150	459	14,249
Harbour	23	20	16,504	600	11,750
Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni	26	24	23,350	643	7,140
Thousand Lights	18	15	21,835	815	15,141
Anna Nagar	24	21	27,063	963	21,363
Virugampakkam	24	21	28,634	1,030	27,086
Saidapet	15	13	26,580	924	28,514
Thiyagarayanagar	26	23	22,176	878	13,027
Mylapore	19	16	24,971	770	28,972
Velachery	27	24	30,580	1,336	33,305
Shozhinganallur	27	25	74,203	2,079	96,780
Alandur	23	20	43,385	1,263	29,609
Sriperumbudur	13	10	54,988	1,161	54,246
Pallavaram	23	20	47,013	1,602	54,693
Tambaram	15	12	46,217	1,512	35,621
Chengalpattu	15	12	53,770	1,395	35,641
Thiruporur	11	8	43,527	1,248	39,351
Cheyyur	13	10	31,134	783	5,668
Madurantakam	9	6	32,910	797	7,194
Uthiramerur	14	11	37,776	1,114	14,223
Kancheepuram	15	12	40,874	1,078	15,488
Arakkonam	13	10	30,241	899	23,121
Sholinghur	23	20	38,853	572	5,686
Katpadi	15	12	33,793	745	5,870
Ranipet	15	13	36,639	1,209	5,787
Arcot	14	11	37,522	656	42,720
Vellore	15	12	31,629	757	6,777
Anaikattu	13	10	35,870	1,103	7,081
Kilvaithinankuppam	11	8	31,487	972	20,255
Gudiyattam	11	8	38,047	799	10,097
Vaniyambadi	15	12	35,319	624	2,982
Ambur	16	13	32,520	468	7,131
Jolarpet	19	16	35,392	695	16,083
Tirupattur	24	22	33,744	464	48,263
Uthangarai	13	10	34,109	881	5,198
Bargur	15	12	35,555	631	4,241
Krishnagiri	15	12	38,175	1,136	18,844
Veppanahalli	13	10	36,840	1,570	138
Hosur	13	10	46,027	1,614	27,803
Thalli	10	7	34,055	1,550	5,240
Palacodu	14	11	37,328	1,292	39,042
Pennagaram	22	19	37,999	674	3,165
Dharmapuri	19	16	39,607	941	20,896
Pappireddipatti	14	11	39,325	677	33,114
Harur	14	11	36,544	782	3,329
Chengam	15	12	40,298	1,114	13,278
Tiruvannamalai	30	28	36,547	785	2,455
Kilpennathur	23	20	36,559	440	30,465
Kalasapakkam	21	18	35,618	423	26,740
Polur	15	12	35,158	798	227
Arani	24	21	38,243	707	5,631
Cheyyar	13	10	36,937	950	21,081
Vandavasi	15	12	31,703	988	3,333
Gingee	19	16	36,025	508	12,645
Mailam	21	18	31,488	299	30,041
Tindivanam	14	11	32,553	714	734
Vanur	15	12	31,934	519	7,034
Viluppuram	24	21	35,809	573	4,119
Vikravandi	24	21	34,806	401	910
Tirukkoyilur	15	12	36,137	500	285
Ulundurpettai	14	11	44,992	1,051	2,277
Rishivandiyam	25	22	40,711	534	4,862
Sankarapuram	22	19	39,191	383	3,440
Kallakurichi	11	8	41,458	883	798
Gangavalli	13	10	32,659	731	14,404
Attur	15	12	34,545	1,031	15,318
Yercaud	13	10	42,058	1,250	2,189
Omalur	15	12	44,948	1,433	14,539
Mettur	18	15	38,386	794	19,105
Edappadi	15	12	42,821	1,341	98,110
Sankari	20	17	40,512	711	9,517
Salem (West)	31	28	38,893	1,052	74,867
Salem (North)	14	11	34,918	1,205	14,034
Salem (South)	19	16	34,527	745	33,369
Veerapandi	20	17	39,214	594	4,071
Rasipuram	18	15	33,970	863	14,511
Senthamangalam	12	9	34,747	1,211	2,655
Namakkal	27	24	35,254	760	11,008
Paramathi-Velur	31	28	31,400	449	308
Tiruchengodu	23	20	31,768	520	28,172
Kumarapalayam	21	18	34,110	665	7,696
Erode (East)	20	17	26,930	879	23,966
Erode (West)	13	10	36,691	1,257	22,250
Modakkurichi	14	11	31,640	925	2,430
Dharapuram	9	6	33,148	1,058	16,727
Kangayam	15	12	33,805	706	8,133
Perundurai	13	10	33,313	812	9,693
Bhavani	14	11	34,486	1,409	7,396
Anthiyur	14	11	30,837	754	1,260
Gobichettipalayam	18	15	36,471	907	16,620
Bhavanisagar	12	9	35,466	1,804	4,569
Udhagamandalam	6	3	24,530	1,525	976
Gudalur	6	3	25,062	871	22,833
Coonoor	6	3	23,446	720	8,099
Mettuppalayam	22	19	40,581	839	7,768
Avanashi	14	11	38,340	1,563	15,373
Tiruppur (North)	15	12	43,730	1,078	69,992
Tiruppur (South)	24	21	29,862	644	12,901
Palladam	15	12	49,933	1,417	37,897
Sulur	15	12	45,366	1,353	4,790
Kavundampalayam	14	11	60,313	2,116	42,140
Coimbatore (North)	28	25	37,515	1,020	21,992
Thondamuthur	21	18	42,925	1,000	14,725
Coimbatore (South)	31	28	25,957	759	2,271
Singanallur	28	25	36,615	1,346	19,139
Kinathukadavu	5	2	44,367	1,717	11,710
Pollachi	13	10	30,058	849	4,627
Valparai	6	3	24,960	675	9,371
Udumalaipettai	11	8	33,738	1,149	2,882
Madathukulam	13	10	31,224	911	15,968
Palani	15	12	34,645	750	693
Oddanchatram	14	11	33,356	1,491	43,249
Athoor	15	13	39,396	812	22,368
Nilakkottai	15	12	32,826	642	2,925
Natham	21	18	39,758	596	11,869
Dindigul	20	17	35,199	833	1,131
Vedasandur	15	12	37,681	474	10,063
Aravakurichi	30	27	30,074	637	19,382
Karur	79	76	36,049	539	1,821
Krishnarayapuram	28	25	31,473	525	3,503
Kulithalai	29	26	34,747	612	579
Manapparai	18	15	40,045	949	1,426
Srirangam	21	18	42,343	929	33,590
Tiruchirappalli (West)	14	12	32,542	1,098	4,786
Tiruchirappalli (East)	20	18	30,330	514	27,416
Thiruverumbur	26	24	35,474	745	8,705
Lalgudi	24	21	30,804	390	2,739
Manachanallur	22	19	34,864	599	12,364
Musiri	11	8	31,342	1,093	17,442
Thuraiyur	15	12	30,622	697	9,614
Perambalur	11	8	42,083	1,160	14,393
Kunnam	19	16	38,348	484	15,557
Ariyalur	15	12	39,203	641	24,498
Jayankondam	19	16	38,023	416	18,490
Tittakudi	14	11	29,196	584	2,629
Vriddhachalam	18	15	34,739	755	2,387
Neyveli	11	8	28,003	768	10,962
Panruti	9	6	34,977	907	10,663
Cuddalore	15	12	31,581	894	15,519
Kurinjipadi	11	8	35,557	629	7,589
Bhuvanagiri	13	10	34,439	681	2,487
Chidambaram	11	8	32,629	816	5,747
Kattumannarkoil	11	8	31,241	465	33,063
Sirkazhi	10	7	33,316	555	11,417
Mayiladuthurai	20	17	31,332	474	10,845
Poompuhar	13	10	36,457	586	8,260
Nagapattinam	13	10	25,142	479	9,781
Kilvelur	7	4	25,183	545	2,278
Vedaranyam	11	8	26,943	563	7,331
Thiruthuraipoondi	9	6	31,706	797	12,922
Mannargudi	15	12	32,283	405	1,566
Thiruvarur	8	5	36,176	825	18,148
Nannilam	14	11	38,419	936	41,724
Thiruvidaimarudur	14	11	34,700	747	14,116
Kumbakonam	13	10	34,555	960	679
Papanasam	13	10	34,502	716	1,065
Thiruvaiyaru	13	10	36,861	948	8,555
Thanjavur	11	9	32,921	1,274	16,955
Orathanadu	9	6	32,446	631	35,028
Pattukkottai	11	8	30,502	738	13,754
Peravurani	10	7	29,264	695	3,162
Gandarvakkottai	10	7	27,749	1,127	11,039
Viralimalai	26	23	33,925	375	62,073
Pudukkottai	30	27	31,652	467	1,867
Thirumayam	14	11	30,278	945	1,492
Alangudi	14	11	29,969	673	12,977
Aranthangi	15	12	30,359	580	10,062
Karaikudi	25	23	38,125	519	46,074
Tiruppattur	15	13	35,828	747	1
Sivaganga	17	14	35,503	1,053	15,081
Manamadurai	14	11	34,633	846	1,208
Melur	13	10	31,696	554	2,724
Madurai East	15	13	45,065	1,177	16,547
Sholavandan	14	11	31,419	571	2,678
Madurai North	13	11	26,842	753	18,038
Madurai South	6	3	23,482	612	21,529
Madurai Central	12	9	24,656	656	19,128
Madurai West	14	11	35,919	893	11,931
Thiruparankundram	15	12	42,387	1,148	41,553
Thirumangalam	15	12	38,342	933	23,807
Usilampatti	12	9	37,227	692	1,805
Andipatti	18	15	36,051	1,028	9,554
Periyakulam	13	10	34,951	1,506	19,321
Bodinayakanur	15	12	36,617	931	6,805
Cumbum	19	17	34,985	667	751
Rajapalayam	22	19	30,378	753	10,605
Srivilliputhur	14	11	32,100	873	8,581
Sattur	22	19	33,044	476	5,989
Sivakasi	14	11	32,095	948	11,670
Virudhunagar	15	12	27,814	954	9,391
Aruppukkottai	25	22	29,621	692	4,943
Tiruchuli	23	21	30,138	425	13,485
Paramakudi	12	9	31,508	710	3,548
Tiruvadanai	21	18	36,655	354	2,513
Ramanathapuram	13	10	39,438	953	12,459
Mudhukulathur	20	16	38,491	429	16,598
Vilathikulam	15	12	29,029	642	8,228
Thoothukkudi	15	13	33,977	853	37,731
Tiruchendur	13	10	30,889	722	5,872
Srivaikuntam	15	12	29,308	579	1,186
Ottapidaram	13	11	32,540	879	29,083
Kovilpatti	21	18	32,274	593	843
Sankarankovil	20	17	32,654	560	6,489
Vasudevanallur	18	15	31,527	637	6,583
Kadayanallur	22	19	36,905	527	6,253
Tenkasi	22	19	39,053	673	10,299
Alangulam	13	10	36,646	982	7,798
Tirunelveli	20	17	36,285	717	11,414
Ambasamudram	5	2	31,690	1,060	10,245
Palayamkottai	17	15	29,962	851	13,805
Nanguneri	25	22	34,784	721	16,419
Radhapuram	23	20	33,244	469	12,313
Kanniyakumari	14	11	39,721	825	214
Nagercoil	20	17	32,639	447	7,570
Colachal	13	10	33,073	581	2,833
Padmanabhapuram	11	8	29,991	615	15,569
Vilavancode	14	11	29,017	828	20,970
Killiyoor	13	10	29,506	502	1,311

Download all 234 seats as CSV · Votes needed to keep the deposit: more than one-sixth of the valid votes in the seat.

How we counted

Source. The Election Commission's candidate-wise results for all 234 seats, EVM and postal votes together (results.eci.gov.in), declared 4 May 2026. The same figures feed the seat pages.
Rule. A candidate who is not elected loses the deposit if the votes are one-sixth or fewer of the valid votes polled for all candidates in the seat (Representation of the People Act, 1951, sections 34 and 158). The deposit is ₹10,000 (₹5,000 for a candidate from a Scheduled Caste or Tribe). We do not know each candidate's category, so we count deposits, not rupees.
NOTA is left out of the base, as the seat pages do. Counting it in would change the total from 3,352 to 3,352.
Reconciled. In every seat the candidates' votes plus NOTA equal the votes counted there; the 234 seats add up to 4,93,24,125, the state total in the Commission's Form 21E returns; our first copy of its results page (7 May 2026) had 4 votes fewer, the 4 postal NOTA votes of Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar. The 4,023 candidates are counted seat by seat.
Cross-check against Form 20. We re-added every booth row of Form 20 (75,108 booths) for each candidate and put the postal votes back. In 217 of 234 seats every candidate matches the Commission's figure exactly. In the other 17, 99 candidates differ, by at most 937 votes (Form 20 transcription). On the Form 20 sums the winners are the same and so is every deposit: 3,352 lost, against 3,352. NOTA from Form 20 is 1,99,732 against 1,99,805.
We do not use the totals block inside the Form 20 files; it is wrong in nearly every file.

Questions people ask

How many candidates lost their deposit in the 2026 Tamil Nadu election?

3,352 of the 4,023 candidates (83.3%) lost their deposit in the April 2026 Assembly election, counted on 4 May 2026.

When does a candidate lose the deposit?

A candidate who is not elected loses the deposit if the votes are one-sixth or fewer of the valid votes polled for all candidates in the seat. The deposit is ₹10,000, or ₹5,000 for a candidate from a Scheduled Caste or Tribe.

How many NOTA votes were cast in 2026?

1,99,805 votes, 0.41% of the 4,93,24,125 votes counted in the April 2026 election.

In how many seats was NOTA bigger than the winning margin?

In 11 of the 234 seats. The closest was Tiruppattur, where the winning margin was 1 and NOTA had 747.

Which parties lost no deposit?

None of the 233 TVK, 176 DMK or 28 Congress candidates, and none of the candidates of the DMDK, CPI, CPM, VCK or IUML, lost a deposit.

Page updated 12 October 2026

Sources: Election Commission of India, candidate-wise results declared 4 May 2026 (results.eci.gov.in); Form 20 from the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu (elections.tn.gov.in); Representation of the People Act, 1951, sections 34 and 158.

Report an errorweb@tnexplorer.com