Kenya Government Proposes New Voting Rules for Disabled Persons
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
The Kenyan Government has made a variety of proposals to change election procedures there. Among these is a proposal to allow blind people and others with disabilities to bring someone of their own choosing into the polling booth to assist them in voting.
This is a change from current law, which specifies that an election official must assist such a voter.
The proposal is part of a package of reforms being put forward by the government. Attorney General Amos Wako forwarded them to Parliament in August. The package is called The Presidential and Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Regulations and were developed with the help of the Electoral Commission.
Opposition to the measures so far as concerned the proposals for ensuring that only "serious" candidates with broad support are allowed to run for the presidency. Objections have also been raised to the manner in which the proposals were made, with some arguing that the ongoing constitutional review process is the proper venue for discussion of these proposals.
Information for this story was taken from www.allafrica.com.
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