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May 01, 2008
Accessibility and Voting in Elections in India
We found the following informaion from Disabled Peoples' International's (DPI) E-news.
Accessibility and Voting in Elections in India
In a major victory for people with disabilities, about 50,000 voting machines could be equipped with Braille and ramps erected at all polling booth for the upcoming elections in Karnataka.
The state’s chief electoral officer, M.N. Vidyashankar, gave this assurance to disability activists who met with him earlier this week under the banner of Karnataka Angavikalara Rajya Okkoota (KARO), an ActionAid supported initiative. He promised that a circular will be issued to all officials concerned to ensure that each polling booth had a ramp and Braille equipped voting machines so that persons with disabilities can vote in the election May 10, 2008.
As delegates, including wheelchair users and people with vision impairment, visited offices of political parties seeking representation of their demands in the election manifestos, they met with several barriers. "Steep stairs at the entrance inadvertently greeted the delegates and despite being informed in advance no one was there to hear us," said Victor John Cordeiro, programme manager of ActionAid's Disability Unit. "Delegates spontaneously shouted 'remove stairs and construct ramps' and all the others joined in," he added.
Full article at
http://actionaidindia.org/People_with_disability_Karnataka%20fight_to_make_election_count.htm
Posted by jicafriends at May 1, 2008 03:47 PM