How Election Commission decides on party symbols?

Voters can expect to see a myriad of symbols like chapatti roller, dolli, bangles, capsicum on the ballots as they go out to vote on October 28, November 3 and November 7 during Bihar Assembly Election 2020.

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Key-Points

Symbols have become a crucial part of the electoral process ever since India held its first national polls in 1951-52.

Since nearly 85 per cent of the electorate were illiterate at that point, visual symbols were allotted to parties and candidates to help them identify the party of their choice.

As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) (Amendment) Order, 2017, party symbols are either “reserved” or “free”.

Eight national parties and 64 state parties across the country have “reserved” symbols.

The Election Commission also has a pool of nearly 200 “free” symbols that are allotted to the thousands of unrecognised regional parties that pop up before elections.

As per the guidelines, to get a symbol allotted, a party/candidate has to provide a list of three symbols from the EC’s free symbols list at the time of filing nomination papers. Among them, one symbol is allotted to the party/candidate on a first-come-first-serve basis.

When a recognised political party splits, the Election Commission takes the decision on assigning the symbol. For example, when the Samajwadi Party split, the EC allotted the ‘bicycle’ to the Akhilesh Yadav faction.