Bihar polls: Voter slips, ballot papers in Braille

Visually-impaired voters in Bihar will be provided dummy ballot papers and voter slips in Braille, the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday.

The ballot paper pasted on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) will also be available at the polling stations in Braille.

The EC said visually-impaired voters will be provided with regular as well as Braille voter information slips which have details of polling station.

"Any visually impaired voter can use this sheet to cast his/her vote by themselves using Braille facility on ballot units of EVMs without any help from companion," it said.

This is not the first time the poll authority is providing ballot papers in Braille.

As per Rule 49N of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, visually-impaired persons can take a companion along with them to cast their vote on their behalf at the polling station.

The EC said it has directed that there should be proper transport facility for persons with disability at the polling station on the day of poll. The PwD (persons with disabilities) electors can also request transport and wheelchair facility by registering on Divyang (Saksham) Module of ECINET.

These facilities will be available at each of the 90,712 polling stations in Bihar.

Additionally, in another initiative, 292 polling stations will be exclusively managed by persons with disabilities.

The state goes to polls in November 6 and 11 while votes will be counted on November 14.