PANJIM: The Goa State Disability Commission (GSDC) has directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to provide accessible electoral facilitations to voters who are Persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the upcoming panchayat elections, as per the procedure followed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the Assembly elections, held in February this year.
During the General Assembly elections, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) provided a postal ballot facility to voters aged 80 and above and people with over 40 per cent disabilities, to exercise their franchise from home. 9,500 PwD voters and 3,000 senior citizens had opted to vote from home.
In a tweet on Monday, the GSDC said that their Commissioner Guruprasad Pawaskar has directed the SEC to ensure accessible electoral facilitations are provided to all PwDs with dignity, in the upcoming panchayat elections, as per the statutes and procedures followed by the ECI during the recent Goa Assembly elections.
The directions were issued after Vishant Nagvekar, a member of the North Goa district and disability research committees constituted by the Directorate of Social Welfare, brought the SEC’s decision to the notice of the Commission.
Nagvekar had approached the SEC on accessibility to the panchayat elections in accordance with Section 11 of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.
The SEC had replied stating, “The provision of Braille ballot papers and postal ballot voting for elderly citizens above 80 and the bed-ridden are not mentioned in the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.”
