"Blind Observer"
by Nicholas Halm

The December 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana were novel in two respects. First, a historic run-off ensued between Mr. John Agyekum Kuffour of the New Patriotic Party and Prof. John Evans Attah Mills of the National Democratic Congress following the inability of any of the presidential candidates to get the required number of votes to be declared president outright. Equally historic, persons with disabilities in the Northern, Upper-East, and Upper-West regions of Ghana, as well as in the capital city of Accra, participated as election observers. The mission of the observation team was to assess the level of participation of people with disabilities in the elections and gauge the opportunities and obstacles involved in their participation, so as to identify ways of making future elections more inclusive. The observation was done under the auspices of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), in conjunction with Action on Disability and Development (ADD), a U.K.-based international development agency, and a local organization, the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD). A blind teacher from Accra, I observed voting in Adenta, a northern constituency in the Greater Accra Region.

In general, the elections I observed were peaceful and orderly. The electoral officers and their assistants had little difficulty carrying out their assignments, as almost all the voters understood the voting process. This situation could be mainly attributed to a relatively high literacy rate in this particular constituency.

Only a few people with disabilities voted in the Adenta constituency. While many constituencies had similar low participation from people with disabilities, my constituency's participation rate was particularly low for the following reasons:
·Architectural barriers: At some polling stations, there were gutters and steps, clearly an inconvenience and a deterrent for voters with disabilities.
·Lack of awareness among election officials: Some people were not sure why people with disabilities were there and why they would want to vote. However, once informed, voters and officials generally welcomed the observers.
·Limited access to information for blind voters: There was virtually no voter education material available either in Braille or on cassette.

Despite these problems, there were several long-term benefits to the observation exercise:
·The observation mission was an effective means of educating the public about the capabilities of people with disabilities. Other voters saw first-hand how people with disabilities could contribute positively to the development of their communities. Voters looked at me with interest and amazement as I asked questions and put down notes in Braille. A few gathered courage and seized the opportunity to ask me questions about my life in general, especially how I went about my work. They were very impressed with my answers.
·As a result of this public recognition of their capabilities and their usefulness to society, the observation exercise encouraged self-assertiveness among Ghanaians with disabilities.

To a large extent, the observation initiative exposed the obstacles inherent in Ghana's electoral procedures as far as issues of disability and inclusiveness were concerned. This exposure to people with disabilities offered an opportunity to election officials and government leaders to explore solutions to fostering inclusiveness in the election process. Hopefully, future elections will see some improvements.

Nicholas Halm is the Director of the Ghana Society of Persons with Disabilities, an umbrella group comprised of organizations of and for Ghanains with physical, sensory, and communicative disabilities.