Braille ballot papers in Australia ensure ‘access for all’ at polls
Dr. Ajith C. S. Perera
News from Australia confirms that not everyone will cast votes the
traditional way on September 8. Those who are blind or with low vision
can now register for Braille ballot papers for Local Government
elections.
Returned papers will be transcribed and added to the rest.
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A blind woman using a Braille
typewriter. Picture courtesy: AlertNet |
This facility will be extended, reports confirm, to the next state
and federal elections and thereby ensuring significant number of the
population the ‘right to vote’ regardless of one’s ability to see.
A lot of people would prefer to keep their political preferences to
themselves and this initiative will also enable even the ‘blind’ to do
that too.
Open your eyes
The way a country treats its ‘dis-Abled’ population, especially the
extent to which they enjoy their rights and are respected as
fully-fledged respected citizens in attending to day-to-day normal life,
is a realistic, internationally recognized, true measure of a country’s
good governance and a far more telling indicator of society’s
development than GDP.
An estimated four million people - (i.e. 20 percent of our
population), for different reasons, are with restricted mobility and/or
impaired visually. A large percentage of them are young people - our
life force.
Sri Lanka has the fastest ageing population in our region with over
65 years heading towards 17 percent of population.
Out of the estimated 14.5 million eligible voters here, around 2.5
million are physically ‘dis-Abled’ persons.
Every person who qualifies to be an elector and registered in the
appropriate register of electors, regardless of the degree of his/her
mobility/ability, is eligible to vote at the elections. It’s an inherent
right.
Safety hazards and rights
We warmly appreciate the continuing endeavours of Commissioner of
Elections and his dedicated staff, to ensure every election is completed
in a free and fair manner for all persons.
At many districts casting their vote could become the crucial
deciding factor.
However, I am personally aware of many people and, that includes
persons with debilitating ailments or conditions that often go
unnoticed, persons with restricted mobility and/or visually impaired on
the basis of short term or long term physical/sensory disability,
elderly and even the pregnant, who although very much had the desire to
go and caste their valuable vote but have been reluctantly compelled to
refrain from exercising this right, due to potential safety hazards
and/or physical barriers either in approaching their polling stations
and/or accessing their polling booths - i.e. the right to access another
vital public facility by all.
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Dr. Ajith
C. S. Perera |
This writer, voluntarily, has also previously forwarded feasible
low-cost remedial measures and check-lists to overcome most of the
man-made physical barriers at polling booths.
We are also aware that in spite of many polling booths and stations
yet remaining inaccessible and unapproachable for increasing number of
voters, at most places the staff on election duty are quite helpful with
understanding.
It’s now or never
We have also been informed by the Commissioner of Elections that
District Election Officers and Returning Officers have also been
informed to give attention to our request and provide possible
facilities to enable disabled voters.
However, what has still not happened but essential is to inform early
enough the public through print and electronic media, as a communiqué
from the Election Commissioner, what facilities are available (and from
whom) and what procedures are in place to enable a physically or
visually impaired voter to overcome external barriers - physical and
attitudinal both.
Such prior wide awareness is the only possible meaningful way to
dispel any unwanted fears and reluctance of the physically disadvantaged
eligible voters and encourage them to cast their votes freely and fairly
without discrimination.
Requested action is a simple measure but of utmost importance to at
least a million of voters disadvantages on the basis of disability to
empower them on January 26 next.
Active and understanding support here means recognizing the disabled
persons as full-fledged citizens of our country with dignity and
respecting their inherent right to vote unhindered with dignity.
(The writer is the Hony. Secretary-General of ‘IDIRIYA’, a voluntary
disability rights activist and a competent advisor on accessibility)
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