Blind and visually impaired voters in Cape Town were left outraged and said their dignity, independence and human rights were not respected when casting their votes.
Blind and visually impaired voters in Cape Town were left outraged and said their dignity, independence and human rights were not respected when casting their votes.
According to Grassy Park-based organisation for the blind, The League of Friends of the Blind (Lofob), after availing their premises for the facilitating of special votes on Monday, they witnessed inadequacies at the polling station and IEC booths were not even available.
A blind voter, who did not want to be named, said he had cast his three ballot votes on Monday but felt he was robbed of the privacy of his vote being his secret with at least three people having sight of his decision.
According to the voter, the Universal Ballot Template (UBT) to assist persons with disabilities and special needs to have an independent and secret vote during elections was not available.
“They had only brought their staff with to the site and I was assisted at my booth with an IEC official. I had to tell him who to make my mark for. Another official (who did not make the mark) had to confirm to me that the mark was made by the correct party. Then I also had my own sighted person who came with me that ensured the mark that was made was made for the party I wanted to vote for.
“This is not the first time we have complained about the processes for the blind. We have voiced our concerns over many years of voting, but still nothing is being done.
“As a blind person, I felt that my right for a free, fair election was disrespected as the privacy of my vote was not honoured.”
Lofob executive director Shahiemah Edwards said it was disappointing to have witnessed the inadequacies at the polling station.
“The people who registered to vote at Lofob all voted in a room with a number of officials present.
The special voting template designed for blind people was not available, which detracted from the privacy of the vote. Blind people felt their dignity, independence and human rights were not respected.”
“This disaster follows three occasions where Lofob officials had discussions with IEC officials to pave the way for a fair election.”
Edwards called on the IEC to investigate the matter.
IEC provincial head Michael Hendrickse said he could not comment on the matter as he did not know “what happens to those affected voting stations that did not have the equipment”.
Hendrickse said each voting station across the province had been issued with two UBT devices.
Cape Times
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