Kavya had simply turned 19 and was excited.
Not as a result of she was older however as a result of she would train her proper to vote that 12 months.
Nevertheless, on polling day, she visited the sales space along with her household and her pleasure waned. The polling station was not accessible for an individual with a incapacity. With stairs main as much as the EVMs, she questioned how she would forged her vote.
One of many officers on responsibility lastly guided her to the again entrance which he claimed had a ramp hooked up. She rolled down the best way solely to search out two flimsy wood planks bridging an nearly foot-long distinction. With 4 folks supporting her wheelchair, and a heavy feeling of being let down, Kavya forged her vote.
However did she really feel like an equal citizen?
India is house to the most important inhabitants of individuals with disabilities. Virtually 2.21 p.c of its inhabitants has some sort of incapacity. The Rights of Individuals with Disabilities Act, which was applied in 2016, mandates accessibility of the electoral course of underneath Section 11 of the Act.
It bestows the duty on the Election Fee of India to make sure that all polling stations are accessible, with all vital materials associated to the method obtainable.
In accordance with the Press Data Bureau, as many as 6.2 million voters have disabilities out of the 910 million folks eligible to forged their vote. The identical report states that the motto of the Basic Elections of 2019 was ‘Accessible Elections’ and a number of other measures starting from mapping electors with disabilities to their nearest polling stations, putting in ramps, having Braille-embossed Electoral Photograph Id Playing cards and Digital Voting Machines (EVMs), transportation amenities and signal language interpreters to make the method simpler.
In a 2019 op-ed in The Hindustan Instances, George Abraham, a social entrepreneur, inspirational speaker and incapacity activist, shared his expertise of casting his vote together with his spouse, who escorted him. He was requested to refill type 49A since he didn’t know Braille and relied on the assist of his partner to help him.
“Within the following weeks, my colleagues and I spoke to a number of blind and visually impaired folks from throughout the nation concerning their voting expertise. Many have been appreciative of the ECI’s efforts in making these elections accessible, whereas some cribbed of insensitive officers. There have been a number of cubicles the place the Braille record of candidates was lacking. However general, these elections have been an incredible enchancment so far as inclusion of individuals with disabilities was involved,” he notes within the article.
Over the previous few years, the decision for accessible elections by civil society organisations in addition to from inside the ECI has change into stronger.
“The momentum of accessible elections received excessive inside ECI in addition to throughout the nation when Nationwide Voters Day in 2018 embraced its theme as Accessible Elections. At ECI, we had steady discussions and labored on all attainable facilitations on the polling stations to make sure hassle-free voting by our residents with disabilities, thereby ECI issued a set of notifications/ circulars on the identical to all Chief Election Officers. I additionally facilitated the inclusion of individuals with disabilities inside the system to the bottom degree by way of their inclusion in Committees for accessible elections from nationwide to state, district, and AC ranges,” says Smitha Sadasivan, who works as an Accessibility Marketing consultant within the Incapacity Laws Unit of Vidya Sagar in Chennai.
Though efforts have been made by the Authorities to depart nobody behind, gaps nonetheless exist.
“Proper now, the gaps are in the correct understanding of accessibility itself, its requirements and facilitations on the floor degree for which plenty of capability constructing is required inside the election equipment,” Smitha provides.
Whereas 2019 was termed because the 12 months of Accessible Elections, this 12 months is one step forward with the federal government now providing the ability to ‘Vote from Dwelling’ or VfH to individuals with disabilities over 40%, and people aged 80 and above.
Beginning this 12 months’s Lok Sabha Elections, individuals with disabilities in addition to senior residents over 85 can register to vote from their properties utilizing a postal poll. This lodging is barely prolonged to individuals who register to take action upfront. The voters making use of this amenity have to have acceptable paperwork proving their incapacity/age.
The method to register is as follows:
- 1. Just be sure you have the required paperwork. For individuals with incapacity, this might be a Distinctive Incapacity Identification Card (UDID) and a legitimate proof of age matching the voter record with their Polling Sales space for Senior Residents.
- 2. Fill a Type 12D – Letter of intimation to Assistant Returning Officer (for absentee voters) and submit it to your respective Sales space Stage Officers. You possibly can obtain the shape utilizing this link.
- 3. Following this, the Sales space Stage Officers out of your polling sales space will go to your private home as soon as after the final date for withdrawal of nominations.
- 4. Within the occasion that the voter is just not obtainable at house, they may return as soon as extra earlier than 26 April (the final day of polling for this cycle of elections). If the voter is just not obtainable for the second time as nicely, they may lose their alternative to vote.
- 5. Please understand that as soon as a voter has utilized for a postal poll, they now not have the choice to vote in particular person on the polling sales space.
These postal ballots will likely be counted individually from the votes forged at polling cubicles and will likely be carried by the Sales space Stage Officers in a sealed envelope to make sure secrecy.
In case you want any extra particulars about amenities for PwD voters, you may get them on the ECI’s official web page here.
In case you want to communicate to a consultant from the Election Fee of India, you possibly can name at 1950 between 9 am and 9 pm.
(Contributed by V-shesh; Edited by Padmashree Pande)
