For the upcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Uttarakhand, the State Election Commission has printed over two crore ballot papers. Since these elections are not party-based, the ballot papers are prepared according to election symbols, not candidates’ names.
Preparations began months in advance, with ballot boxes sourced from Himachal Pradesh. Considering around 50 lakh voters, the commission arranged to print approximately 2.5 crore ballot papers. For the first time, about two lakh ballot papers were printed at the government press in Hyderabad. Additional printing was done at two state presses in Uttar Pradesh (Ramnagar and Lucknow) and an RBI-authorized private press.
Election Commission Secretary Rahul Kumar Goyal explained that since the election is symbol-based, the ballots are printed in groups (e.g., six-symbol, nine-symbol, 12-symbol formats). Depending on the number of candidates in a constituency, the corresponding ballot paper is modified by removing extra symbols.
A total of 144 symbols have been officially assigned for the election:
- 40 for Gram Pradhan (e.g., spade, bucket, pineapple, basket, camera)
- 40 for Zila Panchayat members (e.g., ladder, hammer, soldier, tree, thermos)
- 36 for Kshetra Panchayat members (e.g., coconut, purse, gourd, ship, torch)
- 18 for Ward members (e.g., watermelon, apple, pitcher, conch, mango)
