Hi, I casted my vote on 16th April, 2009 at Vinayaknagar, Hayatnagar at Booth number 140. EvM did neither have Braille marking nor the numbers are in large print. There wasn't even suffecient lighting.
Intially, when I asked for help, officer annoyingly said "Just press any button and leave off" but when I raised my voice and told him how would that be wise, another officer came forward and helped me to cast my vote. Also, booth is not accessible to wheelchair / OH voters / senior citizens as they need to climb 4 steps. I have written to CEO of Andhra Pradesh expressing my views. Hope for better elections in the future. Thanks, > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mahesh Chandrasekar [mailto:advocacy.cbrfo...@gmail.com] > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 7:36 AM > To: CBR Forum: Admin > Subject: Polling hurdles for disabled > > Dear Friends, > Greetings - News from Phase II of the General Election 2009... > Refer Deccan Herald - dated 24th Apr 2009. > Regards > Mahesh > > http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Apr242009/state20090423132065.asp > > Visually challenged faced problems while exercising their franchise > > Polling hurdles for disabled > > L Subramani,DH News Service,Bangalore: > > > > Polling day for the 20 visually challenged persons in Lakshmidevi Nagar > (Vidhana Soudha Layout, close to Peenya) turned out to be a frustrating > one due to the ignorance of the electoral officer here. > > Standing in the queue at booth No 141 here since polling opened in the > morning, the visually challenged local folks demanded their right to > cast their votes without any sighted assistance. > But the polling officer rejected their demand and told them that the > EVMs inside didn't have braille marking. Even as the disabled voters > invoked the Supreme Court order of 2007 that guaranteed their right to > vote alone, the officer remained unconvinced. > Braille markings > "We have been trained to vote individually and we know that EVMs with > braille markings are available in Bellary and other small towns. We are > surprised to learn that it is not installed in one of the urban > constituencies (this locality belongs to Bangalore North Lok Sabha > seat)," Sarojini, a visually challenged woman told Deccan Herald. > Just when the voters were standing outside to raise their voice in > protest, a photographer suggested to the poll officer to check the > machines once again. To his embarrassment, he did find the EVM with > braille marking. "Unfortunately, we have not been trained to spot this," > the officer admitted. > While NGOs in the locality made sure the visually challenged voters had > a feel of the braille marks much before the election day, the seemed to > have ignored its duty to instruct poll officers of the right of the > persons with disability to vote individually. > No ramps > > > > > Voting at booth 187 in Ilyas Nagar, Banashankari, Manjula, a crutch > user, found it hard to climb four steep steps to cast her vote. "I am > disappointed to find that ramps are not in place even after the Supreme > Court order clearly mentions they should be laid," Manjula told Deccan > Herald. > C Mahesh, a wheelchair user and a disability activist, who voted in > booth 171 J P Nagar Phase 3, also said that ramps were absent in the > booth. "Luckily, I had to just climb one step to cast my vote," he said. > "But wheelchair-bound folks elsewhere are not so fortunate." > Not advanced > While P Subramani, who went to cast his vote at Chamarajpet, was unhappy > that the voting mechanism was not technologically advanced for visually > impaired. > Subramani who works as the deputy director at Bureau of Indian Standards > said, "Voice based voting, SMS polling or internet polling could be > better options although it might have its own drawbacks. > Technology-based polling must be accommodated so that physically > disabled will be able to exercise their franchise without dependence on > any individual." > > > > > -- > C. Mahesh > Advocacy Coordinator > CBR Forum > 14, CK Garden, St. Thomas Town Post > Wheeler Road Extension > Bangalore - 560 084 > Tel - 080- 2549 7387 or 2549 7388 > advocacy.cbrfo...@gmail.com > ad...@cbrforum.in > www.cbrforum.in > > "Human Rights refer not just to personal civil and political rights, but > collective economic, social and cultural ones too - New > Internationalist" > > "When Policies weaken, Rights must be strengthened" > > > Email secured by TPML Raksha Checkpoint > > = > > > To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
