Office of the Election Commission of India.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will bear colour photographs of candidates from now on, with the Election Commission (EC) all set to roll it out in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections for the first time.
The EC has written to Chief Electoral Officers of all states and union territories on Wednesday providing guidelines on the design and printing of EVM ballot paper for use in general and by elections to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.
A statement said the EC has revised the existing guidelines under Rule 49B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and it is in line with the 28 initiatives undertaken since February under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to improve election processes and enhance voters’ convenience.
The EC will print photographs of candidates in colour on EVM ballot paper, unless the candidate has provided only black and white photographs, the letter to the Chief Electoral Officers said. The photograph printed on the ballot will measure two cm in breadth and 2.5 cm in height.
The candidate’s face will occupy three-fourths of the photo space for better visibility.
Serial number of candidate/NOTA will be printed in the international form of Indian numbers with a font size 30 and in bold for clarity. To ensure uniformity, the EC said, the names of all candidates/NOTA will be printed in the same font type and font size large enough for easy readability.
“Unless otherwise directed by the Election Commission in any particular case, the ballot papers shall be printed for Parliamentary elections on white paper and for Assembly elections on pink paper,” the letter said.
Paper quality to be used for printing of EVM Ballot Paper should be 70 GSM. For Assembly polls, pink-coloured paper of specified RGB values shall be used, it said.
Printing of EVM ballot papers should be “done preferably” at a government or semi-government press but in case, such a facility is not available or does not have required capacity, private printing press(es) with required capacity can be selected after following due procedure, it said.
The names of not more than fifteen candidates shall be arranged on one sheet of a ballot paper and 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, it said.