Amendment proposed to facilitate blind to vote without help
Election officials can help the visually impaired to move from one place to another inside the polling stations.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
A bill to amend the Elections (General) Act to make it easier for people with visual disabilities to vote without the help of anyone else has been introduced in parliament.
In Monday’s sitting, the first cue of the bill, introduced by Hinnavaru MP Jihan Mahmood, was read out. The government had introduced the bill in parliament to provide for a provision for people with visual disabilities to mark on the ballot papers through a plastic template dedicated to them while casting their votes, and to provide for rules to ensure the secrecy of the votes of such persons.
The bill seeks to amend the law by introducing plastic templates used by people with visual disabilities and how it can be used to facilitate voting.
In the ballot paper template used by the visually impaired voters to cast their votes:
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Each candidate's candidate number has been kept tactile so that it doesn't get mixed when the ballot paper is put in the template
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In order to vote for the candidates, there should be a cut on the template
According to the bill, the Elections Commission will have to provide instructions to voters who want to use the template to exercise it.
The commission should make arrangements for people with visual disabilities to vote on their own using the template, according to the bill:
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If a person wishes to vote using the template, the ballot paper issued to him/her should be released after putting it in the template
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Issuing of ballot papers and templates prohibits anyone from appearing at the polling booth until the voter goes to the polling booth to mark it on the ballot paper; no one should indulge in any act that will compromise the confidentiality of his/her vote
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Voters should use the ballot paper template to mark it on the ballot paper and then go to the polling booth to remove the ballot paper from the template so that the confidentiality of the vote is maintained
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Election officials can help the visually impaired to move from one place to another inside the polling stations
