"A Blind Voter Votes"
by Nicholas Halm

Any type of impairment, whether physical, mental, sensory, hearing, or visual, makes the affected person unavoidably dependent on others. It is essential for persons with disabilities to be conscious and careful about the extent to which they rely on others.

My experience as a visually impaired person exemplifies this point. During the December 2000 election campaign in Ghana, I lived under the illusion that my wife and stepson supported the same political party as I did. But as Election Day drew closer, I could judge from their comments about Radio and TV programs and newspaper articles pertaining to the elections that their political loyalties had shifted. They did not tell me their real position. I decided not to use their assistance in the voting booth. Incidentally, I gathered after the elections, that my wife and stepson had indeed voted for a different party. I wonder what might have happened had I used one of them as my aide while voting.

This incident emphasizes the need to devise a means of enabling the visually impaired to vote independently as it is not always safe to rely on others.

Under a grant from Finland, IFES will be working with Mr. Halm, the Ghana Electoral Commission and others during 2002 to pilot test a ballot so blind voters can vote in secret.