One of the fundamental principles of democracy is the right to vote in secret in free and fair elections. Yet thousands of Irish people will be denied the right to cast a secret ballot at tomorrow’s elections (5th June) because they cannot see the ballot paper.

Blind or vision impaired people in Ireland must rely on a “trusted friend” system, by bringing along a sighted companion or enlisting the help of a returning officer to come into the polling booth with them to mark the ballot paper on their behalf.

Around the world tactile ballot templates, which feature Braille and large print and are placed over the original ballot sheet, are the most commonly used method to enable people with vision impairments to vote independently and in secret. These templates are used in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Albania, Sierra Leone and Ghana, for example.

National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI), Chief Executive, Des Kenny today called for tactile ballot papers to be introduced before the next general election.

“Some of the poorest countries in the world have introduced accessible voting while in Ireland blind and vision impaired people are forced to rely on others for assistance. This country spent over €50 million on electronic voting since 2002, including the purchase and storage of the now-useless e-voting machines. Surely we can invest in a low cost, low-tech system that will enable blind and vision impaired people to vote in secret in the next general election?”

There are almost 13,000 blind and vision impaired people registered with NCBI who are eligible to vote tomorrow. With the number of new registrations growing by 12% year-on-year, this figure will have increased to more than 18,200 people by 2012. In addition to enfranchising people who are on the national blind register, a more accessible voting system will also be helpful to older people and others who may have difficulty reading voting material in its current format.

ENDS

For further information contact Fionnuala Murphy, NCBI Communications Officer on 01 8821975/087 4116925 or email fionnuala.murphy@ncbi.ie.