Singapore GE2020: Portable booths for wheelchair users and stencils for visually impaired

Mr Edwin Khoo, 43, says the stencils will enable him to mark his choice more confidently. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Mr Edwin Khoo, 43, says the stencils will enable him to mark his choice more confidently. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

Assistance will be given to people with disabilities to enable them to vote independently in the general election on Friday.

For example, a portable booth that can be placed on their laps is available for wheelchair users for them to mark their ballot papers.

It is covered on all sides, except the opening for a user to mark his vote, to ensure voting secrecy, an Elections Department (ELD) spokesman told The Straits Times.

Stencils will be given to voters who are visually impaired, so they can mark the ballot paper themselves without assistance.

The spokesman said: "For the voting itself, an election official will, in the presence of any polling agents who may be observing the voting proceedings, read out the candidates' names in each row of the ballot paper to the voter, before inserting the ballot paper in the stencil and handing it over to the voter.

"The voter is then able to mark his choice on the ballot paper by feeling the box-shaped cut openings that align with the candidates' names." The stencils were introduced in the 2011 General Election.

Under Singapore's laws, voting has to be done by the voter and not by another person, such as a family member, on his behalf, to maintain voting secrecy. ELD said: "All election officials are under oath to maintain voting secrecy. Hence, persons with disabilities can be assured that voting secrecy is not compromised."

Election officials can also help those with physical disabilities mark the ballot paper on their instructions. To cater to the needs of seniors and persons with disabilities, there are special drop-off points near the voting area at polling stations.

Voting areas are barrier-free and wheelchairs are provided. Within the voting area, priority queueing is also offered to these voters.

Mr Shalom Lim, 24, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare disease characterised by progressive muscle wasting. The undergraduate and first-time voter in East Coast GRC is excited to vote and is relieved to know election officials can help him mark his ballot slip according to his instructions as he does not have the strength to do so with his hands.

He said: "My vote counts and I'm proud and grateful to be able to vote in this general election and play a small part in determining the individuals who will represent the people in my community."

Mr Edwin Khoo, 43, head of the Braille production and library services centre at the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, said the stencils will enable him to mark his choice more confidently.

Before the stencils were introduced, Mr Khoo, who is blind and lives in Chua Chu Kang GRC, said election officials would guide his hand to help him gauge where to mark his choice, although he felt that was not ideal. He prefers not to ask officials to mark his vote for him.

"We should have every right to mark the cross ourselves as a true citizen," he said. "With the stencil, I can feel exactly where to mark my cross. It gives me more confidence that I have marked my vote correctly and it is a good step forward (for a more inclusive society)."

Like Mr Lim, he hopes the ELD will continue to find ways to make voting more inclusive for persons with disabilities in future elections.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 07, 2020, with the headline Portable booths for wheelchair users and stencils for visually impaired. Subscribe