Elections to the five newly formed city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will be held after May 25 and will be conducted using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Karnataka Chief Election Commissioner G S Sangreshi said on Monday.
He also said that zilla and taluk panchayat polls, expected later this year, will similarly be held using ballot papers. “Elections will be held tentatively after May 25, after SSLC (class 10) and PUC (class 11 and 12) examinations are over,” Sangreshi said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the GBA elections this time will be conducted using ballot papers.“There are two best practices to hold elections, ballot papers were held since the beginning, but since the last 20-30 years EVMs are being used.
Use of ballot papers is not barred by law or by the judgements of the Supreme Court,” he said, defending the decision.
The Congress government in Karnataka had in September last year decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) that all future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs, citing erosion of confidence and credibility among the people towards EVMs.
Pointing out that developed countries such as the United States also use ballot papers, the state’s chief election commissioner said most elections like Gram Panchayat and cooperative polls are held using ballot papers, except Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. “However, last time the Bengaluru corporation polls in 2015 were held using EVMs,” he noted.
Responding to a question on whether the decision to use ballot papers was taken under government pressure, Sangreshi said the state election commission is an independent constitutional body. He added that since the law allows elections to be conducted using either ballot papers or EVMs, the commission has the discretion to decide.
Sangreshi, in response to another question, reiterated that Zilla and Taluk Panchayat polls will also be held using ballot papers.
“Using ballot papers is a choice.....the state election commission after considering what is good in the present scenario, after discussion and thinking, felt that use of ballot papers is appropriate. Most of those voting since the last 20-30 years (in Bengaluru) have not seen ballot papers as EVMs are being used. Ballot paper is also a best practice, throughout the world it is appreciated,” he said.
“Using ballot papers doesn't mean going back to old age. Ballot papers are still being used in several of our elections like for Gram Panchayat, cooperative and MLC polls,” he also said.
Last week, the Supreme Court asked the Karnataka government and the state election body to hold Bengaluru local body polls by June 30.
The tenure of the earlier elected body under the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) expired on September 10, 2020, after which a government-appointed administrator has been managing its day-to-day affairs.
In September 2025, Bengaluru was divided into five new municipal corporations — Central, East, West, North and South — under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), replacing the single BBMP.