The Eastern Regional office of the Electoral Commission (EC) has assured the visually impaired that tactile jackets would be available to aid them in the District level Elections (DLE) and the Referendum.
Eastern Regional Director of the EC Mrs Faith Amedzake, gave the assurance at a training workshop for the visually impaired, to educate them on the upcoming DLE and referendum.
She said the EC was interested in full participation of the public in every election it conducted, including the visually impaired as well as other Persons with Disability so was putting in place measures to make voting easier for them.
The visually impaired were drawn from all the districts in the region to be educated on the referendum, the DLE, how to sue the tactile jacket and their right to take part in the elections as voters and as contesters without any drawbacks.
They were taken through the correct way to thumbprint on the ballot, how to identify candidates on the ballot paper using the tartan jacket as well as how the Yes and No would appear on the ballot paper to enable them to vote correctly, according to their choices.
Mr Asirifi Young, a deputy Regional Director EC, explained that Article 55(3), which forbid political parties from participating in elections was entrenched and thus could not be changed unless the public decided to change it, hence the Referendum.
A Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the EC Mr Michael Acheampong, stated that Tax Identification Number (TIN) was not required in filing nomination to contest in the DLE.
He therefore advised the participants to draw the attention of the EC to any misconception regarding their interest in contesting in any election, adding that, the law did not put hindrance on the way of any citizen based on disability.
