New ballot template for visually impaired

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File Photo

Published May 2, 2014

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Johannesburg - A new, larger universal ballot template has been developed for next week's general elections, the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) and the SA National Council for the Blind (SANCB) said on Friday.

The record number of parties contesting the elections at provincial and national level led the IEC and SANCB developing the new, larger cardboard template.

It would allow visually impaired voters to vote unaided in the 2014 elections, the IEC and SANCB said in a statement.

“The new cardboard template can accommodate the 7 May national ballot paper featuring the 29 parties and replaces the existing plastic universal ballot template used in previous elections which can only accommodate a ballot paper with up to 18 parties.

“It has windows numbered in Braille and with raised letters so that people with different tactile-literacy levels can use the same template.”

Voters who wanted to familiarise themselves with the national and provincial ballots before voting could phone the IEC call centre on 0800-118-000 to hear the parties listed in the order they would appear on the ballot papers.

Sapa

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