No queue, wheel chairs, braille ballots for disabled voters

KOLKATA: Disabled voters are getting special attention at polling booths in the West Bengal Assembly elections as they don't have to stand in queues and can avail of aids like wheelchairs and braille EVMs.

"We have a policy for them that all those voters who are differently-abled can give their vote on their own. They are being given priority treatment and there is no queue for them. Standing instructions have been issued to all polling officers that there should be no waiting time for them," Amitjyoti Bhattacharya, Deputy Chief Electoral officer, said.

The poll panel has made a list of disabled voters in each polling station for easy identification.

"We flagged them in the electoral rolls. Wherever they were in large numbers the returning officers are ensuring more facilities," he said.

According to officials they are ensuring that each and every polling station has wheelchairs and either permanent or temporary ramps are there to make the place friendly for disabled folk.

In cases where the booth is not on the ground floor, polling officials have been asked to ensure that wheelchair-bound voters are taken to the respective areas.