An electoral symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's

election commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

for use in election ballots.

Usage

Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on

ballot papers A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

where a voter must make a mark to vote for the associated party. One of their purposes is to facilitate voting by

illiterate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

people, who cannot read candidates' names on ballot papers. This may include: * easily identifiable real-world creatures, objects, or items such as the head of an elephant (Cambodian Democratic Party), a hand (

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

), an arrow (

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

) or a sailboat (

Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

). * numbers, such as the two-digit electoral numbers in Brazil, which can be easily recognized by illiterate voters. * a letter or small group of letters. ** One, two, three or four

Hebrew letter The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish ...

s and additional symbols of one, two, three or four Arabic symbols is used in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

(this also facilitates voters whose knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic, the two official languages, is limited). ** Danish and Icelandic parties are identified by a singular "party letter", which may or may not be the initial letter of the party's name. * unique party logos or flags. File:Elezioni 1924 - Facsimile di scheda elettorale.jpg, A ballot for the

1924 Italian general election General elections were held in Italy on 6 April 1924 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 They were held under the Acerbo Law, which stated that th ...

File:Scheda elezioni regionali Veneto 2020.jpg, An Italian ballot for the

2020 Venetian regional election The 2020 Venetian regional election took place in Veneto on 20 and 21 September 2020. Originally scheduled to take place on 31 May 2020, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, coronavirus pandemic in Italy and was part of a 2020 It ...

. File:VotingInIsrael1.jpg, Poster at a polling station in Israel, with party symbols explained in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and Russian. File:Østerbro lille Museum - Stemmesedler 02.jpg, Ballot of the

2015 Danish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 18 June 2015 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. 175 members were elected in the Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. Although the ruling Social Democrats ...

Symbols of the national parties of India

In India, political parties are identified on ballot papers by their name and a pictorial symbol. The pictorial symbol helps the large percent of illiterate voters to identify the party they want to vote for. The party symbols are allocated by the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, dir ...

. A symbol assigned to a party designated as a national party can not be used by other parties in the country. A symbol assigned to a state party in one state can be allocated to different state party in another state. Kottayam-2006 (7)

Communist Hammer and Sickle - Near Darasuram - India

External links

The curious stories of Indian party symbols
(The Diplomat)

(CNN) * [https://www.businessinsider.in/hp-elite-lounge/slideshows/general-elections-2019-indian-political-parties-woo-voters-with-the-strangest-party-symbols/slidelist/68369016.cms From ceiling fan to comb, Indian political parties woo voters with the strangest party symbols] (Business Insider India)
Election symbols in India
(YouTube)
Lotus, hand, elephant, broom: The symbols that drive Indian politics
(TRTWorld)
The Problem With Using Symbols on Ballots in Pakistan
(The Atlantic)
The power of political symbols
(The Asian Age)

References

Elections {{election-stub

Usage

Symbols of the national parties of India

See also

External links

References