CAPE TOWN- The Electoral Commission of South Africa has been slammed for allegedly excluding thousands of blind and partially sighted voters across the country from casting their ballots.
The South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) said Universal Ballot Templates(UBT), meant to provide the visually impaired access to the ballot paper were not available in many voting stations and some people were allegedly turned away.
SANCB national executive director Lewis Nzimande said this was despite numerous meetings between IEC and the blind sector prior to elections.
The IEC on Tuesday did not respond to questions by deadline.
“IEC failed to distribute the UBTs to many voting stations as well as training and informing VD staff on how to handle blind and visually impaired voters as agreed. We condemn this unacceptable conduct by the IEC with contempt that it deserves,” Nzimande said.
“The constitutional right to vote for blind and visually impaired has been infringed upon by an institution that is supposed to promote inclusion and participation in the democratic elections by all citizens irrespective of disability and impairment,” he said.
Political parties have also been condemned for failing to ensure that IEC is held accountable for the alleged disregard of the blind and visually impaired constituency in its preparations for the elections.
“We call on the IEC to publicly account for its failure to perform with integrity and due efficiency at the expense of blind and visually impaired persons. We further urge all political players to recognise blind and visually impaired citizens as a significant constituency in democracy and in the political space,” said Nzimande.
Blind SA chief executive officer, Jace Nair said they lodged an objection at the Tshwane voting station on Monday but he received reports of complaints from other provinces including the Western Cape as well.
“Blind SA had 53 blind and partially sighted observers that visited a few hundred voting stations. We are still compiling our reports from all the observers. The initial observations were that the majority of voting stations did not cater for blind and partially sighted voters. The IEC’s distribution network failed. Election staff were not trained to assist blind and partially sighted voters.
“Several voters were unsatisfactorily spoken to at voting stations. Some blind and partially sighted voters had to be assisted in casting their votes and thereby there was no secret or confidentiality,” said Nair.
The League of Friends of the Blind (LOFOB) manager Benita Petersen said three of their residents participated in the special voting process at their residential facility on Saturday.
“Two IEC officials facilitated the process, and a member of SAPS was in attendance. Unfortunately the braille template was not offered although one of the residents is totally blind and fully braille literate. In addition one resident indicated that she was present in the same space while another resident was busy voting.”
Judith Coetzee, deputy Chief executive officer at Cape Town Society for the Blind in Salt River said their students, staff, and Small Business Units also experienced difficulties at the voting polls and were surveying to establish the extent of their difficulties.
Results of the survey are expected to be released on Friday.
Cape Times