Being able to cast a ballot is a fundamental right in most modern democratic systems. The general universal believe is that every adult citizen has the right to vote in elections and to do so in secret.
But the critical question is: Are our ballot papers blind-friendly? If the ballot papers are not blind-friendly are they at liberty to make the right choice? Or can they go with people to help them mark the candidate(s) of their choice?
The Electoral Commission of Zambria has now introduced a blind voting template to be used by visually impaired people which is a remarkable progress in their democracy.
The New South Wales Electoral Commission on the other hand have suggested luminous contrast markings to assist such electors with depth perception and all polling places have hand held magnifiers and maxi pencils and voting instructions in large prints to assist electors who may have difficulty reading the ballot papers or marking.
In 2008, the local government legislation in New South Wales was amended to enable blind and vision impaired electors to vote using a braille ballot paper. The Republic of India in the last general elections had 1,078 booths which was completely accessible for the blind and the authorities provided adequate coverage in radio and newspaper regarding the available facilities and those who exercised their voting rights had a trouble free voting experience.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide, 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. About 90 % of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries. In the circumstances there is a real need for governments to make better provisions for blind and partially sighted people.
In Malaysia the prevalence rate of blindness is 0.29 % which is said to be lower than other countries in the region. However, the prevalence of low vision is at 2.4 % which is the highest in the region.
It is therefore my view that no democratic process can neglect the participation of the blind and visually impaired citizens in the electoral process.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities require that states recognise the right of disabled people to cast their vote in an election and Malaysia must take appropriate immediate steps to improve the currently flawed electoral process which, if steadily, improved will enhance our democracy considerably.
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