Persons living with Disability (PWDs) in the Northern Region want the Electoral Commission to make special arrangements for them to ensure that they are able to vote in the upcoming referendum.
They want the designated polling stations to be more accessible as well as the availability of special voting materials for the visually impaired, to give more meaning to secret balloting.
The Northern Regional Chairman of the Resource Centre for Persons with Disability, Mohammed Seidu Chentiwuni, made the call in an interview with Citi News in Tamale.
Reacting to a survey by an NGO, NORSAAC, which revealed that PWDs feel neglected by the EC, he pointed out that the EC in recruiting personnel for the electoral process, overlooked persons with disability.
He said it was important for the EC to consider persons with disability when selecting people to help in carrying out the elections.
Mohammed Seidu Chentiwuni stressed that some polling stations are not accessible to persons with disability.
He said the situation where polling stations require climbing stairs denies persons with disability access.
The survey on the upcoming referendum conducted by Northern Sector Action on Awareness Creation (NORSAAC), a Civil Society Organization, also revealed that, most PWDs feel that their right to secret balloting is violated because someone has to assist them to vote.
The survey, which was supported by Star Ghana focused mainly on the areas that will be known as North Eastern Region and the Savannah region.
Majority of respondents stated that the momentum for the demand of new regions started from political parties and some ethnic groups.
Majority of the respondents did not know which districts constitute the proposed North East and Savannah regions.
The organization therefore urged the Electoral Commission and Civil Society Organisations to intensify voter education and sensitization activities.
“This can be done using diverse approach including the media, radio and Television, leveraging on the existing membership based associations or groups as well as on political structures in multi partisan approach to issues in the proposed regions,” it stated.
In his address, the Executive Director for NORSAAC, Mohammed Awal, called on stakeholders to ensure that groups campaigning for their interest are free from intimidation.
“No leader or chief should intimidate any group from campaigning for their interest. There should be respect for other people’s interest” he noted.
He further urged the EC to make available the total number of registered voters in the referendum areas to help calculate the 50 per cent of voter turnout.
The Deputy Regional Director for EC, Emmanuel Abeam Danso responded in an interview that, the EC will soon make public the updated register before the start of the referendum.
“We have to delete names of deceased persons from the register which the IT department will put together the old and the new register and then come out with the total for the districts and the regions. It is an authentic document that will come from the IT before election” he explained.
He added that the EC has embarked on series of sensitization programmes in the proposed areas to educate electorates including persons with disability on the electoral process in order to give equal access to all.
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By: Diana Ngon | citinewsroom.com | Ghana