The Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) has trained 50 Blind voters on the use of braille ballot guide ahead of the Anambra State Gubernatorial Elections on November 6th, 2021.
The training, according to IFA, was necessitated as a result of addressing the several barriers identified in the electoral process of Polling Unit Accessibility Audit in Edo and Ondo gubernatorial elections.
The IFA said it considered the need to train leaders and some members of the National Association of the Blind (NAB) Anambra chapter with the understanding that some blind voters in Anambra will for the first time be noticing and using the braille ballot guide.
IFA’s Executive Director, Grace Jerry, while giving an overview on the effective utilization of the braille ballot guide, emphasized the need to note the alphabetically arranged order of parties on a ballot before printing their thumb on the desired candidate’s party.
Jerry equally used the opportunity to encourage participants to shun voter apathy and exercise their franchise notwithstanding the security challenges experienced as IFA is making a case for all disability clusters with the security agencies to ensure a safe election in the state.
“Anambra has been making the news a lot because of the insecurity. IFA has been engaging the security agencies at the national level and will be meeting with the state commands here in Anambra to ensure that the lives of voters including PWDs are safe. That shouldn’t discourage you from coming out to vote, it’s important that you exercise your franchise.”
The IFA team at the training took participants through basic features of the braille ballot guide using the previous ones used in past elections.
Participants appreciated the process and were super excited that they will be able to cast their votes independently as against previous elections.