Visually impaired voters to use braille signage feature to vote

No.1213/2021-Pub

Shimla

12^th Oct. 2021

Visually impaired voters to use braille signage feature to vote

Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh, C. Palrasu said that 3047 visually impaired voters would be able to exercise their right to vote in bye-elections of Mandi Parliamentary Constituency and Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly Constituencies. He said that instructions have been given to make special arrangements to facilitate the visually impaired voters during voting.He said that 2718 visually impaired voters have been identified in Mandi Parliamentary Constituency.

These include 88 in Bharmour Constituency, 78 in Lahaul-Spiti, 74 in Manali, 140 in Kullu, 128 in Banjar, 183 in Ani, 287 in Karsog, 84 in Sunder Nagar, 157 in Nachan, 313 in Siraj, 80 in Drang, There are 127 voters in Joginder Nagar, 194 in Mandi, 199 in Balh, 160 in Sarkaghat, 286 in Rampur and 140 in Kinnaur constituency.As many as 329 visually impaired voters have been identified for the bye-elections to be held in three Assembly Constituencies, which include 125 in Arki Assembly Constituency, 129 in Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly Constituency and 75 visually impaired voters in Fatehpur Assembly Constituency.

He said that for the convenience of these voters, the Braille Signage (Identity Indicator) feature has been added with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by the Election Commission of India. With the availability of this facility, such visually impaired voters using Braille would be able to exercise their right to vote on their own. He said that ballot paper sheets written in Braille would also be available in every polling station. He said that instructions have been issued to all the District Election Officers to make necessary arrangements in this regard well in time.He said that during the election campaign for the bye-election, a ban has also been imposed on the use of plastic items, including posters, banners and other single-use plastic items, etc. Instructions have also been issued in this regard to the concerned District Election Officers.

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