Braille voter slips for Lok Sabha polls

Braille is a script with raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. It is a tactile reading and writing system used by blind and visually impaired people who cannot access print material. As part of its strategy framework for ‘accessible elections’, the commission has told all chief electoral officers to issue accessible photo voter slips with braille to voters who are visually impaired or blind.

The braille enabled slips were used in the recently held assembly elections. Electronic voting machines already have the braille feature. The ballot paper pasted on the machine with name and symbol of candidates is braille enabled. The EC also plans to provide braille election photo identity cards to visually challenged voters across the country.