Ballots and Candidate symbols

Languages: Dari and Pashto

 

For the Provincial and Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the National Assembly) Elections each candidate was allotted a symbol through a lottery process. These symbols were designed to help voters – many whom are illiterate – to identify the candidates campaign materials and to quickly and unmistakably identify candidates on the ballot paper. There were 5,800 candidates including 582 women. Our team researched, designed and illustrated over 800 of these symbols within 1 week. We coordinated with the National Commissioners to ensure the symbols were recognizable and culturally sensitive in rural and urban areas.

 

Sixty-nine ballots were needed for Election Day (24 for the Wolesi Jirga, 34 for the Provincial Council and one for the Kuchi Constituency (Nomads). The design team working with IT created a database and artwork for the ballot designs. In order to accommodate the lengthy list of candidates the ballot layout was produced tabloid size in a newspaper format, some of the ballots were 8 pages.  Ballot variations and layouts were field-tested to determine viability in a country new to the election process. The timelines for production were extremely tight; we produced 69 ballots ­– 5,800 candidates with strict quality control and secrecy. 

I oversaw the printing of 40 million ballots in coordination with 6 of my team members located at the printing houses in the UK, Germany and Austria. I worked closely with the Afghan Electoral Commission in a secure site for proofing and approvals.

We designed and produced mock ballots (using the actual color and size of the ballot, but containing made up candidates) were produced for both the Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections to show Afghans during direct outreach meetings how to correctly mark their ballots and to give them an idea of what the real ballot would look like. Mock ballots were also used to train polling and counting staff.  Two hundred thousand mock ballots for each election were produced.

 

Newspapers were designed and produced containing both the names of candidates affiliated to political parties and independent candidates on the inside cover, and important voter information on the outside cover.  Sample ballots (black and white versions of the ballot with real candidates as they would appear on the actual ballot) were printed and inserted into each political party affiliation newspaper. This was to enable voters to get a clear idea of their candidate choices before heading to the polling stations. Sixty-nine sample ballots were produced: a Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council sample ballot for each Province and a Kuchi (Nomads) Wolesi Jirga sample ballot.  One million newspapers and sample ballots were printed and widely distributed throughout Afghanistan. 

 

The Presidential Election held in October 2004 was the first democratic election in Afghanistan.

One of our many tasks was to design a legible, secure ballot that was also accessible to a large illiterate population.

 

Eighteen candidates were on the ballot. Each candidate was represented by his or her photo and symbol on the ballot. The ballot design included several security features ensuring fraudulent printing of ballots would be difficult if not impossible. These included a watermark, an intricate pattern and security micro text.

 

The civic education campaign used mock ballot papers, as well as posters of the actual ballot paper to familiarize voters on how to mark the ballot. Illiterate people made their choice by placing a mark next to the picture of their chosen candidate.

 

17.5 million ballots were printed in Internationally for in-country distribution an addition 4 million were produced for out-of-country voting in Pakistan and Iran.

 

Provincial and Wolesi Jirga Elections ballot team: Karen Kelleher Carneiro, Sandi Causevic, Míša Alexander
Presidential Election ballot team: Karen Kelleher Carneiro, Brad Becker