They Leave No One Behind: Disability Votes Count campaign of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), on Thursday said that many of their members were excluded from voting in last Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.
This is contained in the observer report of the association jointly signed by Executive Directors of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) David Anyaele, and Executive Director Inclusive Friends Association Grace Jerry respectively.
The report said that the idea of “one person, one vote” is an indispensable component of participatory democracy and a unique opportunity for citizens to influence the policies that affect their lives.
“Sadly, this right continues to elude eligible voters among our country’s 25, 500, 000 PWDs because of the many barriers that make it difficult or impossible for us to participate in elections,” it said. “The findings from the first polling unit accessibility audit conducted during the September 28, 2016 governorship election in Edo state, and those from the just concluded audit for the November 26, governorship election in Ondo state revealed widespread accessibility challenges.”
The report said that 77 percent of polling units were situated in locations that were inaccessible for PWDs with ramps and handrails were not available for use by PWDs at 96 percent of polling units observed.
It added that multiple barriers made it difficult for PWDs to access the location of 50 percent of the polling units, while gutters and corridors accounted for 19 and 15 percent of barriers, respectively.
It also said that instructions and procedures were not explained in sign language to PWDs and Election Day instructions and guidelines were not posted for the benefit of the hearing impaired in 87 percent of polling units.
“Observers’ reports showed that PWDs voted at 35 percent of the polling units visited. However, at 77 percent of polling units, report showed that PWDs could not independently cast their votes due to the placement of the ballot box.
PWDs received assistance from their nominees to enable them cast their votes at 19 percent of polling units visited. Support was provided by INEC personnel at four percent of polling units, and by security officials and polling agents at two percent of polling units.”
It lamented that contrary to INEC’s commitment to record PWD data, the Form EC40H was not used to record the data of PWDs at 70 percent of the polling units visited, while ballots for the visually impaired were not provided at any of the polling units.
It therefore urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly and other stakeholders to ensure that PWDs were given their rights to participate effectively in the nation’s electoral processes.
