How blind voters use ballot templates, and what the IEC changed
The IEC has told election officials how to help visually impaired voters use Universal Ballot Templates when a ballot paper has fewer than 80 candidates.
Voting in secret is a right for every South African, including those who cannot see a ballot paper. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has now clarified how officials should help visually impaired voters who use Universal Ballot Templates (UBTs), SAnews reported.
What a ballot template is
A UBT is a plastic overlay that lets voters who read Braille find their choices and mark the ballot paper without help. Every voting station has single-column and double-column versions to match different ballot layouts. This protects the voter’s privacy and independence.
The problem the IEC spotted
IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi briefed the media at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand. He said the commission worked with Blind SA and found a possible mismatch at stations that use double-column ballot papers with fewer than 80 candidates.
The standard double-column template holds up to 80 candidates, 40 in each column. The left column is numbered 1 to 40 and the right 41 to 80. If a ballot has, for example, 54 candidates, the left column ends at 27 and the right column starts at 28, not 41 as printed on the template.
What officials were told to do
- Learn the ballot paper layout at their own voting station.
- Tell blind voters the number at which the first column of the actual ballot ends.
That short verbal explanation should let Braille-reading voters use the template correctly and vote without unnecessary difficulty.
Source: SAnews. Summarised and rewritten by SA Job Central.
