PwD voters complain about lack of facilities at polling booths

NT Reporter

Panaji

Disabled voters in Panaji faced difficulties casting their votes during the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections on Wednesday, with president of the Disability Rights Association of Goa Avelino D’Sa, a voter from Ward 9, stating that though the Election Commission has made home voting mandatory for persons with disabilities (PwDs), the facility was not implemented in Goa for
the municipal elections.
The issues of insufficient wheelchairs and lack of assistance at polling stations were also raised.

“Because home voting was not available, many disabled persons could not vote in this election,” D’Sa said, adding that Panaji has a large number of senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

He said that although the wards were divided to reduce queues, the basic facilities remained limited. “Only two wheelchairs were available for Ward 8 and 8A and Ward 9 and 9A, even though they covered two wards with separate divisions. This created difficulties for disabled voters who required assistance to reach the polling booths,” he said.

Another voter, Vishant Nagvenkar from Ward 15, said that “the experience was smooth, but there was no escort team for assistance at the polling station. ”

He said there was only one wheelchair at the polling station, and it was not used, as it was not in a clean and usable condition.

“When I had gone for voting, I did get priority, but there was a long queue where many senior citizens were seen standing in queue for voting,” he said, adding that there was no pick-up and drop facility. “If such arrangements had been made, the voter turnout could have been higher.”

Another voter, Shaikh Faiyaz, who uses a walker, said that apart from the lack of fans, there were no major issues with voting, but he was unhappy with the behaviour of police personnel on duty.