Ajay Kumar at 13:33, 27 August 2023

2023-08-27T13:33:35Z

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{{Elections}}

[[File:Kottayam-2006 (7).JPG|thumb|Mural in [[Kerala]] showing the hand of the [[Indian National Congress]]]]An '''electoral symbol''' is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's [[election commission]] for use in election ballots.

==Usage==
Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on [[ballot papers]] where a voter must make a mark to vote for the associated party. One of their purposes is to facilitate voting by [[illiterate]] people, who cannot read candidates' names on ballot papers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2012-12-03 |title=With Pakistan Vote Looming, Ballot Symbols Prove A Tricky Topic |language=en |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-elections-ballot-symbols/24785036.html |access-date=2023-08-22}}</ref>

This may include:

* Easily identifiable real-world creatures, objects, or items.
** In the United States, the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] has been associated with imagery of [[Donkey|donkeys]]. This use was derived from opponents of then-president [[Andrew Jackson]] insulting him as a "jackass" to characterize his stubbornness, and later popularized in 1870 by [[Editorial cartoonist|political cartoonist]] [[Thomas Nast]]. In 1874, Nast also popularized the contrasting use of an [[elephant]] to similarly symbolize the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref name="Rodibaugh">{{cite journal |last=Rodibaugh |first=Jennifer J. |date=Spring–Summer 2008 |title=Cartoonery: When Donkey and Elephant First Clashed |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2008/4/2008_4_14.shtml |journal=American Heritage |volume=58 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918122041/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2008/4/2008_4_14.shtml |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |access-date=June 15, 2018 |number=4}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
*** The Republican Party has since used an elephant as part of its official branding. While the donkey is widely-used by Democrats as an unofficial mascot, the party's first official logo—adopted in 2010—is an encircled "D".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Good |first=Chris |date=2010-09-15 |title=Democratic Party Steals Logo From the Pizza Place Where I Used to Work |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/democratic-party-steals-logo-from-the-pizza-place-where-i-used-to-work/63020/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book |author=John William Ward |url=https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward |title=Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age |publisher=Oxford Up |year=1962 |isbn=9780199923205 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward/page/87 87]–88 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Rodibaugh" /> In some regions, the two parties may be associated with other symbols, such as a star and [[bald eagle]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tomas Lopez |date=October 23, 2014 |title=Poor Ballot Design Hurts New York's Minor Parties ... Again |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031521/https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again |archive-date=February 7, 2017 |access-date=February 6, 2017 |publisher=[[Brennan Center for Justice]]}}</ref>
** In India, electoral symbols are assigned by the [[Election Commission of India]], consisting of item(s) visualizing the party's ideology and position. 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.<ref name="GallagherMitchell2005">{{cite book |author1=Michael Gallagher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Igdj1P4vBwMC&pg=PA137 |title=The Politics of Electoral Systems |author2=Paul Mitchell |date=15 September 2005 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-153151-4 |page=142}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Oscar |last2=Suri |first2=Manveena |date=2019-04-12 |title=Ceiling fans, brooms and mangoes: The election symbols of India's political parties |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/india-election-party-symbols/index.html |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Iwanek |first=Krzysztof |title=The Curious Stories of Indian Party Symbols |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/the-curious-stories-of-indian-party-symbols/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US}}</ref>
** A similar system is used in Pakistan, where parties and candidates must be identified via one of the symbols approved by the [[Election Commission of Pakistan]], such as the [[Pakistan People's Party]] [[arrow]], the [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]] tiger, and the [[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf]] [[cricket bat]] (in reference to party founder [[Imran Khan]] being a retired player).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-23 |title=In Pakistan, election symbols speak louder than words |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1343941/pakistan |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref> The availability and assignments of certain symbols have led to controversies; the [[book]] icon has faced criticism from secularist parties who believed that its assignment to [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)]] allowed it to be presented as the [[Quran]] <ref>{{Cite web |last=Khattak |first=Daud |date=2012-12-04 |title=The Problem With Using Symbols on Ballots in Pakistan |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/12/the-problem-with-using-symbols-on-ballots-in-pakistan/265826/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
* numbers, such as the two-digit [[Electoral number (Brazil)|electoral numbers in Brazil]].
* a letter or small group of letters.
** One, two, three or four [[Hebrew letter]]s and additional symbols of one, two, three or four Arabic symbols is used in [[Israel]] (this also facilitates voters whose knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic, the two official languages, is limited).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-election-day-is-still-surprisingly-low-tech/|title=Israeli Election Day is still surprisingly low-tech|date=8 April 2019}}</ref>
** [[Denmark|Danish]] and [[Iceland|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.
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Elections]]

{{election-stub}}

Electoral symbol - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 13:33, 27 August 2023