Though I have mentioned providing dummy ballot paper in Braille, sadly it finds no mention in Supreme court order or Election commission letter cited herein. Including names of candidates on EVM,I think, may not always be feasible. However, preparing dummy ballot papers in Braille, as many copies per constituency as there are election booths, should surely be undertaken to make them accessible. I think we should press for explicit inclusion of this point in election commission instructions.
From: Asudani, Rajesh Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 5:25 PM To: 'balakr...@eci.gov.in' Cc: 'jaipr...@eci.gov.in' Subject: No accessibility for blind voter-Violation of Supreme court guidelines Sir I am a registered voter in Nagpur North assembly constituency of Maharashtra. [Enclosure I] I am a totally blind person [Enclosure ii[. I wish to bring to your immediate notice that: When I went to vote on April 16, 2009, to my voting booth, Dayanand Aryakanya Vidyalaya, Jaripatka Nagpur, for Nagpur parliamentary constituency, I was not provided Dummy Ballot paper in Braille, and labeling on EVM was only half, starting from number 18, where there were no candidates to choose. Anyway, mere labeling EVM Numbers, is utterly useless until Braille list of candidates along with their serial numbers on EVM is provided to a blind voter. This state of affairs is in direct violation of supreme court order in WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NQ 187 OF 2004 Disabled Rights Group . .. Petitioner Vs. Chief Election Commissioner & Anr. . .. Respondents With TP (C) No. 718-719 of 2005 [Enclosure iii] And also in violation of subsequent ECI letter No.509/110/2004-JS-I Dated: 26 October, 2007, [Enclosure iv]both of which promise full accessibility to blind voters in the form of braille labeling of numbers and names on EVMs and dummy ballot paper in braille. You are requested to initiate corrective and preventive action lest the inaccessible elections go on unabated in our democracy. Rajesh Asudani Manager Reserve Bank of India Nagpur 09420397185 O: 0712 2806676 Res: 0712 2591349 Does Lord expect daylabour, light denied? John Milton ________________________________ Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this email by error, please notify us by return e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Bank accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.
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