Elections: INEC trains visually impaired persons on use of braille ballot guide

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the sensitisation of visually impaired persons on the use of braille ballot guides during the election.

Speaking on Saturday at an interactive session with visually-impaired PWDs,  Olusegun Agbaje, INEC resident electoral commissioner in Lagos, said the sensitisation programme is to ensure an inclusive election.

Agbaje, represented by Gabriel Akanbi, INEC’s head of department, election and party monitoring, said the rights of PWDs will be protected as listed in the recently approved Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act, 2018.

He said blind voters would be allowed to select who will accompany them to their polling areas as stated in section 54 (2) of the 2022 Electoral Act.

“A voter who is blind or is otherwise unable to distinguish symbols or who suffers from any other physical disability may be accompanied into the polling unit by a person chosen by him,” he said.

“That person shall, after informing the presiding officer of the disability, be permitted to accompany the voter into the voting compartment and assist the voter to make his mark in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the commission.

“The commission may take reasonable steps to ensure that voters with disabilities are assisted at the polling place by the provision of suitable means of communication, such as Braille, large embossed print or electronic devices or sign language interpretation, or off-site voting in appropriate cases.”

The REC said facilitators will provide PWDs with a braille ballot guide and assistive materials to ensure smooth participation in the elections.

He said they will also be educated on the basics of voter education, stages of polling procedures and how to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

“It is therefore imperative that our visually impaired must take cognizance of their electoral rights and responsibilities and the special interventions already introduced to support them,” he added.

“They must take ownership of the electoral process and participate massively in the forthcoming elections.”