First of its kind, Meghalaya brings in braille enabled ballot paper for upcoming Lok Sabha polls

Shillong, April 1: With the motive of ‘No Voter to Be Left Behind’ inclining towards persons with disabilities, the state of Meghalaya has come up with a new idea. In a first of its kind, the Election Commission in Meghalaya has made arrangements to issue braille-enabled ballot papers at all polling booths in the state, as part of its efforts to ensure wider participation of voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

 

The EC initiative, a first in Meghalaya, will facilitate more than 800 visually impaired electorates to vote by a secret ballot. The state election commissioner said, “We are making preparations to make the election more inclusive We have already mapped over 4,500 persons with disabilities to ensure that they get priority at the polling booths.” The ballot paper pasted on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) will have the names and symbol of candidates in braille alphabets.

Welcoming the move, the visually challenged voters in the state said the initiative will ensure that they get to cast votes independently, without having to depend on anyone. Bertha Dkhar, who has “never let her disability come in the way of her responsibilities as a citizen” of the country, urged every visually impaired voter to take advantage of the new ballot paper. “I used to take my confidant with me every time to the polling booth, as I found it difficult to locate the buttons and the serial numbers of the candidates. This time, I hope things will be different,” Dkhar, who works as a senior coordinator for education at NGO Bethany Society.

Accordingly, the social welfare department has asked all community resource workers to be present at poll booths to assist the aged and the differently abled, he stated. The election department, in close coordination with the Meghalaya Deaf Association, has also imparted training on sign languages to booth-level officials, the CEO said, adding that the department has recently launched a queue management app to ensure easy and hassle-free voting.