The Election Commission of India (ECI) has revised the existing guidelines regarding design and printing of EVM Ballot Papers to enhance their clarity and readability. The ECI issued the new guidelines on 17th September 205 under Rule 49B of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
ECI said that the initiative is in line with the 28 initiatives already taken by it in the past 6 months to streamline and improve election processes and enhance convenience for voters.
Notably, Electronic Voting Machines do not contain any data related to candidates in an election, and printed ballot papers are affixed on the voting unit of the EVM containing details of each candidate against serial numbers. The EVMs record the votes received under each serial number.
As per new guidelines, photographs of candidates will be printed in colour on the EVM Ballot Paper. The candidate’s face will occupy three-fourths of the photo space for better visibility. Earlier, EVM ballot paper were printed in only back.
Serial numbers of candidates/NOTA will be printed on the EVM Ballot Paper in the international form of Indian numerals. The font size will be 30 and in bold for clarity. To ensure uniformity, the names of all candidates/NOTA will be printed in the same font type and the font size will be large enough for easy readability.
ECI has further said that The EVM Ballot Papers will be printed on 70 GSM paper. For Assembly Elections, pink-coloured paper of specified RGB values shall be used.
The upgraded EVM Ballot Papers will be used in the upcoming elections, starting with Bihar Assembly Elections.
