Comelec to make voting easier for disabled persons

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a resolution seeking to make voting easier for persons with disabilities (PWD) in the country.

 

Comelec Resolution No, 9485 specifically seeks to establish polling places for PWDs — who registered as "disabled or [a] person with disability" in their registration forms — on the ground floor of voting centers in existing precincts.  

 

It said that the polling place shall be established in an area spacious enough to accommodate more than 10 PWD voters at a given time, considering the mobility requirements of PWDs particularly those who are wheelchair users.  

 

It said that the polling places shall likewise be free of any physical barriers and shall provide the necessary mobility, communications, visual, and other forms of assistance for PWDs.

 

The Comelec en banc said the number of accessible polling places to be established per voting center shall depend on the number of registered PWD voters assigned in a particular voting center.

 

It said a waiting area for PWDs shall also be established inside the voting center, preferably near the gate or classroom beside the polling place.

 

But the poll body said PWDs who were not able to indicate that they have a disability in their applications for registration shall vote in the regular polling place where they shall be provided an express lane and assistance.

 

Other types of assistance

 

The poll body said in case a PWD voter cannot accomplish the ballot by himself or herself, an "assistor" shall be the one to mechanically accomplish the ballot for him or her. But it said the assistor must be of voting and age and must be a:

 

 

The Comelec said it shall also provide assistance such as sign language interpretation or any other mechanism that allows persons with disabilities related to speech or hearing to communicate their concerns to the SBEI-PWD.

 

It said it shall likewise provide assistance such as reading aloud of printed instructions and forms, providing recorded voice instructions, printing of voting instructions in large letters or any other mechanism that can be utilized by the persons with disability related to sight.

 

The Comelec said that as of June 12, there were at least 24,573 PWDs who registered and updated their records.

 

It said that based on the partial report of the Comelec's election and barangay affairs department, Region VII has the most number of PWD registrants with  5,256 followed by Region IV-A (4,167), Region V (2,242), and Region VIII (2,238)

 

Last year, the Comelec declared July 18 to 23 as the National PWD Registration Week and conducted voter registration in malls and other accessible locations.  

 

This year's PWD week was cancelled to give way to the registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).  But Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento had proposed a special registration day for PWDs in August. — RSJ, GMA News