Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Visually-impaired voters in Botswana have applauded the country’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) for developing the country’s first Braille ballot paper.
Botswana’s public media reported that IEC has launched the Braille ballot paper in collaboration with the country’s ministry of education.
IEC chief education officer Motlapele Raleru said the ballot paper was first tried during the Francistown West parliamentary elections last year, and was effective.
She said the IEC expected the ballot paper template to speed up the process of voting by visually impaired voters.
Also, she expressed the belief that it would help to increase the secrecy of who they vote for.
“The ballot paper template will be area-specific, which means that it will reflect only the parties contesting in particular areas,” Raleru said.
IEC said it is waiting for the nomination of political candidates to be carried out before finalising the template.
The new ballot paper has been endorsed by Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind, Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted, Central Association for the Blind and Disabled, and Botswana Council for the Disabled.
Photo: Global Accessibility News
