Staff Reporter
Guwahati: With the general election to the Assam Legislative Assembly just six months away, Assam's electors will be able to view not only names of the candidates but also their colour photographs attached to the EVMs for the first time ever. This has become possible due to ECI's initiative to streamline and improve the election process and enhance convenience for the voters.
The Assam Assembly Election 2026 is slated to be held in the months of April-May.
Regarding the ECI's new initiative, a letter has been issued to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories, including Assam. Earlier, the EVMs used to feature the names and black-and-white photographs of the candidates.
This time, the photographs of candidates will be printed in colour on the EVM Ballot Paper, which is pasted on the ballot unit, by the side of the switches used by voters to press for their choice of candidate. The candidate's face will occupy three-fourths of the photo space for better visibility. The candidate's symbol will also be featured, as has been the practice from earlier on.
It was also stated that serial numbers of candidates/NOTA will be printed 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 font size, large enough for easy readability.
Also, 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 letter to all CEOs mentions that printing of EVM ballot paper shall be done preferably at a government or semi-government press. However, in case a government/semi-government printing press is not available or does not have the required capacity, private printing presses with the required capacity can be selected after following due procedure, and adequate provision and safety of the process shall be ensured as per the existing instructions.
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