The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) assigns electoral symbols, or graphic identities, to political parties and independent candidates running for office.
Major political parties have long-standing symbols, such as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (bat), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (lion), and Pakistan Peoples Party (arrow).
Voters can stamp the symbols on voting papers to indicate which one they prefer. There are names on the ballot paper as well, but since more than 40% of Pakistan’s 241 million people lack literacy, the images are even more crucial for identification.
Thousands of candidates, as well as several political parties and symbols, are involved in Pakistan’s election process. A single ballot paper offers voters a wide range of choices.
However, how are electoral emblems assigned by the ECP?
In accordance with Section 216 of the Election Act of 2017, any registered political party may request an electoral symbol by submitting an application to the Election Commission.
A political party that is looking for a symbol, though, ought to be able to assert that it was given the same sign in any prior election.
When two or more political parties ask for the same symbol in a new vote and that same symbol was awarded to an alliance of different political parties in a prior poll, a drawing will determine which political party will receive that selected symbol.
Additionally, independent candidates may request election emblems from the electoral body’s list that haven’t previously been allotted to another political party.
The candidate who has run for office before will be given precedence if two independent candidates seek for the same symbol.
However, if two independent candidates submit identical applications, a drawing is used to select the symbol.
