How are symbols allotted to political parties?

How are symbols allotted to political parties?

Subject: Polity

Sec: Elections

• The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the Election Commission to recognise political parties and allot symbols.
• An electoral or election symbol is a standardized symbol allocated to a political party.
• They are used by the parties during their campaigning and are shown on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), where the voter chooses the symbol and votes for the associated party.
• They were introduced to facilitate voting by illiterate people, who can’t read the name of the party while casting their votes.
• In the 1960s, it was proposed that the regulation, reservation and allotment of electoral symbols should be done through a law of Parliament, i.e. Symbol Order.
• In a response to this proposal, the ECI stated that the recognition of political parties is supervised by the provisions of Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 and so will the allotment of symbols.
• The Election Commission registers political parties for the purpose of elections and grants them recognition as national or state parties on the basis of their poll performance. The other parties are simply declared as registered-unrecognised parties.
• The recognition determines their right to certain privileges like allocation of the party symbols, provision of time for political broadcasts on television and radio stations and access to electoral rolls.
• Every national party and every state party is allotted a symbol exclusively reserved for its use throughout the country and the states respectively.
• A recognised political party has a reserved symbol that is not allotted to any other candidate in any constituency. For registered but unrecognised political parties, one of the free symbols is allotted as a common symbol during an election if that party contests in two Lok Sabha constituencies or in 5% of seats to the Assembly of a State as the case may be.

What is the current issue?

Rule 10B of the Symbols Order provides that the concession of a common free symbol shall be available to a ‘registered unrecognised party’ for two general elections. Furthermore, a party shall be eligible for a common symbol in any subsequent general election if it had secured at least 1% of votes polled in the State on the previous occasion when the party availed of this facility. Such an unrecognised party should however apply for a symbol every time in the prescribed format. This application can be made any time during the period commencing six months prior to the expiry of the term of the Lok Sabha or State Assembly as the case may be. The symbols are thereafter allotted on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis.

In the above cases, the NTK had secured more than 1% of votes in the last two elections with the common symbol of ‘Ganna Kisan’. However, since they applied for that symbol only in February 2024, the ECI had allotted that symbol to Bharatiya Praja Aikyata Party (BPAP), that had applied earlier, based on the ‘first-come-first-served’ rule. However, the BPAP has not contested elections in Tamil Nadu before. The VCK was declined allotment of a common symbol as it had failed to secure 1% of votes polled in the elections to the State Legislative Assembly in 2021. The VCK notably has one Lok Sabha MP and four MLAs in Tamil Nadu contesting on the ‘Pot’ symbol in 2019 and 2021 elections.

What can be the way forward?

The ECI has decided on the applications of NTK and VCK as per existing rules. However, it is counter intuitive from a layman’s perspective that the NTK which secured more than 6% of votes polled is not allotted the previous common symbol of its choice. It would be equally baffling for an average voter that the VCK which has elected representatives is ineligible to obtain a common symbol. The two VCK candidates have been eventually allotted the free symbol of ‘Pot’ by the respective returning officers.

The existing threshold for recognition of a party may continue. The candidates set up by recognised parties enjoy the advantage of being listed at the top of the ballot in the Electronic Voting Machine. Nevertheless, the ECI may consider amending the rules that registered unrecognised parties that secure at least 1% of votes polled in a previous election or have an elected representative in the Lok Sabha or State Assembly, shall have the right to be allotted a common symbol of their choice. This would ensure a fair weightage being given for their past electoral performance and strengthen the democratic process.

Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968:

• Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, EC can decide disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognised political party staking claim to its name and symbol.
• The EC is the only authority to decide issues on a dispute or a merger under the order. The Supreme Court (SC) upheld its validity in Sadiq Ali and another vs. ECI in 1971.
• This applies to disputes in recognised national and state parties.
• For splits in registered but unrecognised parties, the EC usually advises the warring factions to resolve their differences internally or to approach the court.
• In almost all disputes decided by the EC so far, a clear majority of party delegates/office bearers, MPs and MLAs have supported one of the factions.
• Before 1968, the EC issued notifications and executive orders under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
• The splinter group of the party – other than the group that got the party symbol – had to register itself as a separate party.
• They could lay claim to national or state party status only on the basis of its performance in state or central elections after registration.

How many types of symbols are there?

As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) (Amendment) Order, 2017, party symbols are either:

• Reserved: Eight national parties and 64 state parties across the country have “reserved” symbols.
• Free: The Election Commission also has a pool of nearly 200 “free” symbols that are allotted to the thousands of unrecognised regional parties that pop up before elections.

Types of Election Symbols

• Reserved and Free Symbols: Symbols can be either reserved, exclusively assigned to recognized political parties, or ‘free’ symbols that can be chosen by unrecognised registered parties’ candidates. Unrecognized parties are those that haven’t met the criteria for state party recognition.
• Exclusive Symbols: Recognized national and state parties are granted exclusive symbols, signifying their established status.

Symbol Selection by Parties

• Preference Lists: Unrecognized parties provide a list of ten preferred symbols from the free symbol pool.
• Proposal of New Symbols: Parties can propose up to three new symbols for consideration, provided they do not resemble reserved or free symbols, carry religious or communal connotations, or depict birds or animals.
• Common Symbol Assignment: The ECI may allot a proposed symbol as a common symbol for the party if it deems it suitable.