The Central election commission (CEC) of Uzbekistan approved the design of ballot papers for the October elections of deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (parliament), as well as regional, district and city kengashes (councils) during a meeting on 5 September, the CEC press service said.
The ballots will have “a completely new form”, and their new compact design will allow to save at least 3 billion soums (over $236,000) on printing, according to the statement.
Each type of election will have a different color for the ballots: light blue for the single-mandate constituency of the Legislative Chamber; light green for the unified constituency; light yellow for the election of deputies to the regional and Tashkent city councils; and light gray for district and city councils.
The CEC noted that the use of colored ballots will reduce both the workload and the time required for vote counting at polling stations.
During previous elections, vote counting took an average of four hours. With the introduction of new ballot format, this time should decrease by at least one hour, saving approximately 11,000 work hours across the country.
As a result, the number of members on precinct election commissions (PEC) has been reduced from average 11 during previous elections to 10 this year, leading to a decrease of 2,100 PEC members nationwide. Correspondingly, expenditures for their compensation will be reduced by 2 billion soums (approximately $157,400).
The CEC also highlighted that the compact size and multi-colored ballots will make it easier for voters to fill them.
The order of placement of parties on the ballots will be as follows, based on the order they were admitted to the election:
- Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen — Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP);
- “Milliy Tiklanish” (National Revival) Democratic Party;
- Ecological Party;
- People’s Democratic Party;
- “Adolat” (Justice) Social Democratic Party.
