Lengthy ballot papers to affect MCH coffers

hyderabad: with too many candidates in the fray, the ballot paper is likely to cost the mch exchequer quite a lot of money. while about 3,000 candidates are in the fray for 100 wards, 70 candidates are in the fray for mayor's post as of now. the ballot paper for the mayoral election alone is expected to cost more than rs 30 lakh. though some candidates might withdraw from the fray, the cost of the ballot paper will remain the same.according to returning officer for mayoral election and mch additional commissioner j c sharma, the printing of ballot paper with two candidates costs rs 18.50 per 1,000 ballots. for four candidates the cost goes up to rs 28.50 per 1,000. the cost of printing of ballot paper with 35 to 50 candidates costs rs 198.50 per 1,000 ballots. while the printing cost is estimated to be over rs 6 lakh, the cost of paper would be over rs 25 lakh. the election authorities said the voters would be confused as there were too many constestants. "the voter will find it difficult in finding the symbol of his or her choice and often they vote for candidates other than their choice," a senior officer said. the lengthy ballot paper also requires very big ballot boxes and counting arrangements have to be made on a largescale. this would also mean a longer counting time. the district election authorities feel that since the deposit amount was only rs 500, many non-serious candidates too filed their nominations. they have already requested the state election commission to enhance the deposit amount to rs 5,000 to restrict the number of candidates. on an average more than 20 candidates are contesting for the corporatorship from each ward.