EVMs to display colour photographs of candidates beginning with Bihar polls

Beginning with the Bihar Assembly election, ballot papers on the Electronic Voting Machines will display colour photographs of the candidates, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.

The revised guidelines for EVM ballot papers issued by the ECI on Wednesday (September 17, 2025) also mandated that the serial numbers of candidates shall be displayed more prominently.

The guidelines have been revised under Rule 49B of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 — pertaining to the design and printing of EVM ballot papers — to enhance their clarity and readability.

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The new guidelines say, “Henceforth, 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”.

“The upgraded EVM Ballot Papers will be used in the upcoming elections, starting with Bihar,” the ECI added in an official statement.

In a note issued to the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories, the ECI said the photographs of the candidates shall be printed in colour, unless the candidate has provided only black and white photographs. The photograph printed on the ballot paper will measure 2 cm in breadth and 2.5 cm in height.

The 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.

For Assembly elections, pink-coloured paper of specified RGB values shall be used.

The note said the names of not more than 15 candidates shall be arranged on one sheet of a ballot paper and NOTA option will be placed after the last name of the panel.

If the number of contesting candidates together with the NOTA option is less than 16, the space below the panel after this shall be kept blank, the ECI said.

Printing of EVM ballot paper shall be done preferably at a government or semi-government printing press. However, in case a government/semi-government press is not available or does not have the required capacity, private printing press(es) with 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, the note said.