EC to boost voting for the disabled

Voters with disabilities will be assisted in casting ballots in the next election, in a bid to promote equality, said the Office of Election Commission (EC) member member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn.

The EC is working with the Asean Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) on a plan to provide help to voters with physical disabilities in entering polling stations to cast their votes, he said.

He was speaking at a seminar yesterday in Bangkok to find ways to help voters and the elderly who are unable to go to vote without assistance.

The session was also attended by officials and more than 20 representatives of disabled people.

Assistance would be provided for voters with disabilities in the general election expected next year.

The EC is surveying areas conducive for developing polling stations for voters with physical disabilities, Mr Somchai said.

The EC would seek assistance from department stores to have them provide space in their store locations for use in setting up polling stations for the disabled, he added.

During a constitutional referendum vote on Aug 7, the EC provided ID reading machines to screen ID cards belonging to elderly voters to help them vote at polling stations.

Two special polling stations were set up at Ban Bang Khae Social Welfare Development Centre for Older Persons to provide convenience for elderly voters, he said. Around 90% of elderly voters at the centre cast their votes during the constitutional referendum, according to him.

Mr Somchai said the EC is considering extending assistance to the Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities in Chon Buri for the next general election.

The EC has proposed a plan to provide assistance for voters with disabilities to be included in the Summary of the Standing Provisions of the Draft Constitution to Meechai Ruchupan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, for consideration, he added.

Pongsak Chan-on, who represents Anfrel, said it is the government’s duty to assist voters with disabilities to vote as it would promote equality in society. Elections are an important mechanism of a functioning democracy and the disabled were entitled to have their say.

A local reporter, Nalattaporn Krailerk, 24, who is confined to a wheelchair, called on the government to provide easy access to polling stations for voters who have disabilities, saying it is the right thing to do.