The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday issued new guidelines on the design and printing candidate details to enhance clarity and readability for the voters in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election. According to the poll body, the EVM ballots will now include colour photographs of candidates for better visibility. Serial numbers of candidates, NOTA will be printed in the international form of Indian numerals.
Since 2015, the papers pasted on EVMs have had black and white photos of candidates, which many voters found difficult to recognize. When the practice of using photographs was started 10 years ago, the aim was to avoid confusion in constituencies where several candidates share the same name or have similar-sounding names.
The poll body has revised the existing guidelines under Rule 49B of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, for the design and printing of candidate details to enhance their clarity and readability. As per the new guidelines, the photograph of the candidate shall be printed in the panel of the candidate and shall appear in between the name and symbol of the candidate.
Photograph of the candidates shall be printed in color (unless the candidate has provided only a black and white photograph). The candidate’s face should occupy three-quarters of the space in the photograph.
The initiative is in line with the 28 initiatives already taken by the EC in the past six months to streamline elections. Names, photos to get bigger in Bihar EVMs. To ensure uniformity, the names of all candidates/NOTA will be printed in the same font type and font size, large enough for easy readability.
In a letter to all chief electoral officers of all states and union territories, the poll body said the Commission has reviewed the existing guidelines on the subject mentioned above and accordingly, the following changes have been made in the Handbook for Returning Officer ZO23 for the purpose of clarity and uniformity for the design and printing of Ballot Paper for EVM. “The names of not more than fifteen candidates shall be arranged on one sheet of a ballot paper and the NOTA option will come after the last name of the panel. If the number of contesting candidates together with NOTA option is less than sixteen, the space below the panel after this shall be kept blank,” the poll body said in the communiqué.
To ensure uniformity, the names of all candidates/NOTA will be printed in the same font type and font size, large enough for easy readability. In a letter to all chief electoral officers of all states and union territories, the poll body said the Commission has reviewed the existing guidelines on the subject mentioned above and accordingly, the following changes have been made in the Handbook for Returning Officer ZO23 for the purpose of clarity and uniformity for the design and printing of Ballot Paper for EVM. “The names of not more than fifteen candidates shall be arranged on one sheet of a ballot paper and the NOTA option will come after the last name of the panel. If the number of contesting candidates together with NOTA option is less than sixteen, the space below the panel after this shall be kept blank,” the poll body said in the communiqué’.