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Ghana to facilitate disabled voters in coming election

Xinhua, September 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ghana's Electoral Commission said Wednesday it would ensure that persons with disabilities (PWDs) cast their vote unhindered in the December general election.

Abigail Nutakor, Head of the Disability Desk at the Electoral Commission, said measures had been put in place to make sure that the visually impaired, hearing impaired, those with leg disabilities and amputees could all vote without any human assistance.

"Tactile ballot jackets will be provided at all designated polling stations to help persons with visual impairment to vote independently to ensure secrecy of their ballot and guarantee of preferred choice of candidates," Nutakor assured.

She added that the visually impaired would be given training on the use of the tactile jacket before the Election Day.

In addition, she said site selection of polling stations, design of voting screens, among others, would all be made to make it easy for those using wheelchairs, calipers, crutches, and white canes to have unimpeded access to voting facilities.

"The participation of PWDs in election observation will be part of the measures to facilitate transparency of the electoral process, strengthening public confidence in election results and others," the official stated.

Emma Brice-Lyle, member of the National Disability Council, noted that should there be any conflict, PWDs would be the worst hit as they would not be able to escape the dangers as able-bodied people would, hence the need to ensure peace before, during and after the polls.

In 2014, as many as 240,000 Ghanaians were declared blind, 210,000 as deaf and dumb, and generally 3 million people lived with various forms of disability, according to the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFDO). Endit