ECI Asks CEOs to Make Voting Easy for Persons with Disabilities
In Bihar, all polling stations will be located at ground floor or road entry level and will have ramps with proper gradient for the convenience of PwD electors and senior citizens with wheelchairs. Also, it has been directed that PwD electors and senior citizens are given priority for entering polling booths
Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to ensure that Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) could exercise their franchise without hassle in the forthcoming elections.
In Bihar, all polling stations will be located on the ground floor or at road-entry level and will have ramps with proper gradients for the convenience of PwD electors and senior citizens using wheelchairs. The commission has also directed that PwD electors and senior citizens be given priority while entering polling booths.
To facilitate persons with visual impairments, the Commission has instructed officials to issue Accessible Voter Information Slips with Braille features, along with the regular Voter Information Slips (VIS). As per Rule 49N of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, visually-impaired persons may take a companion with them to assist in casting their vote at the polling station.
Dummy ballot sheets in Braille will also be made available at all polling stations. Any visually impaired voter may use these sheets to cast his or her vote independently using the Braille facility on the ballot units of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), without any assistance from a companion.
The commission has further directed that proper transport facilities be provided for PwDs on polling day. PwD electors can also request transport and wheelchair assistance by registering on the Divyang (Saksham) Module of ECINET.
These facilities will be available at each of the 90,712 polling stations in Bihar. Additionally, as part of another initiative, 292 polling stations will be exclusively managed by persons with disabilities.
