Lesotho Electoral Commission Plans for Voters with Disabilities
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
With assistance from the government of Finland, the Lesotho Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is moving to make upcoming elections more accessible to voters with disabilities. The IEC has assigned disability coordinators in all ten districts of Lesotho.
The Commission has appealed to disability organizations for help in identifying sign language interpreters who can assist deaf individuals on election day. The Commission anticipates that some 80 interpreters will be required to ensure that such voters are accommodated at the nation's polling stations, though it has not yet been decided how to determine exactly where interpreters will be assigned.
Ramps into the polling places will be constructed "based on the number of physically disabled registered voters in a given constituency... [and depending on] the terrain and location of a particular polling station," according to the Commission's chairperson, Molahloa Kalawe.
Templates for use by blind voters will be available at all 2500 polling stations.
Information for this story was taken from http://allafrica.com
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