Colour photographs of candidates to be displayed on EVM ballot papers in Jubilee Hills bypoll

For the first time in Telangana, Jubilee Hills bypoll voters will see colour photographs of 58 candidates on EVM ballot papers on November 11. The ECI also introduced mobile deposit facilities and enhanced voter slips to simplify voting and reduce confusion

Hyderabad: Voters in the Jubilee Hills bypoll will, for the first time, be able to see colour photographs of candidates on EVM ballot papers when they vote on November 11. The Election Commission of India has introduced the feature to make the voting process more transparent and help voters easily identify candidates.

The Jubilee Hills bypoll in Telangana is the first assembly constituency in the State to implement the ECI’s new requirement. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polling officials completed all arrangements to comply with the Commission’s instructions. The ECI also decided to extend the use of similar colour photographs on EVM ballot papers to the upcoming Bihar assembly polls and by-elections in eight other States.

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“The inclusion of colour photos is expected to reduce confusion among voters, especially in cases where candidates have similar names,” a polling duty official told Telangana Today, adding that displaying candidates’ photos would help voters easily identify their preferred candidates, reducing confusion and errors on the polling day.

A total of 58 candidates are in the fray for the Jubilee Hills bypoll. All candidates’ colour photos will be printed on the EVM ballot papers, with each candidate’s face occupying three-fourths of the photo space for better visibility, the official said.

In addition to colour photographs on EVM ballot papers, the bypoll will feature a mobile deposit facility at all 407 polling stations for voter convenience on polling day. Another new feature introduced by the ECI is an enhanced voter information slip designed to carry the serial number and part number of the voter more prominently.

Jubilee Hills by-poll-Voters at a glance

• Total voters: 4,01,365
• Male: 2,08,561
• Female: 1,92,779
• NRI Voters: 123
• PwD voters: 1,908
• 18-19 years voters: 6,859
• Voters aged 80 years and above: 6,053
• Voters aged 85 years and above: 2,134
• Other voters: 25