Election Commission of India ( ECI) has given the visually handicapped voters the facility of dummy ballot sheet in Braille script for voting in this Lok Sabha polls.

Voters who do not know Braille script will get the facility to take an assistant with them.

UP Chief Electoral Officer( CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said here on Saturday that in the Lok Sabha General Election-2024, visually impaired voters are being given the facility to vote through dummy ballot sheets in Braille script. This sheet will be available at every polling booth.

He said, “In the EVM, the Braille serial numbers of the candidates are engraved on the right side of the blue button. After the list of candidates is prepared, this list is being prepared in Braille script. In the dummy ballot sheet with Braille script, firstly the number of the ballot unit, then the candidate’s serial number, the name of the candidate and the name of the party are printed. When the number of candidates is more than 15, Ballot Unit-1 and Ballot Unit-2 are prepared”.

CEO said that on demand of a visually impaired voter, a dummy ballot sheet in Braille script will be made available at the polling booth. After voting the dummy ballot sheet will be taken back by the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer will have to maintain a record of the voters who have utilized this facility.

Rinwa said that after the list of candidates contesting the elections is prepared, this list is prepared in Braille script. In the dummy ballot sheet with Braille script, the candidate’s serial number, name of the candidate, party affiliation and independent will be printed in the same order in which it will be printed in the ballot paper. The name of the concerned constituency will be mentioned in the dummy ballot sheet. This dummy ballot sheet will be made available in every polling booth.

He said that wide publicity is being given through print, electronic media and social media to make them aware about the facilities being provided to visually impaired voters. Apart from this, presiding officers and polling officers are also being given special training regarding the facilities being provided to visually impaired voters.

Also, visually handicapped voters who do not know Braille script will be allowed to take one companion along with them at the polling station as per Rule 49N of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, he added.