Authorities seem blind to voting rights of visually impaired

Whenever elections come along, the blind in Malta have to renounce their basic constitutional right to vote in secret because the system in place is unsuitable for them.

"The system has to change because the present one is humiliating and infringes our basic human rights," Ron Colombo, president of the Malta Society of the Blind, insists.

Mr Colombo was contacted after a court dismissed an application against the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General by three associations representing the visually impaired and the blind.

The case was dismissed after the presiding judge, who sympathised with the associations' cause, ruled that the court was not empowered to review decisions taken by the commission. The court however urged Parliament to consider the plight of blind voters and seek a solution to their concerns.

"We were disappointed by the court's decision. We never dreamt we would lose the case... We felt it would merely be a formality to enable us to overcome the obstacles. The present situation is unjust and discriminatory," Mr Colombo said.

Mr Colombo, 68, has poor eyesight - he is blind in one eye and has one-tenth vision in the other - and he dreads the moment when he has to go out and vote, be it for local councils or the general election.

"About a year ago I went to vote at the local council elections. I showed my yellow ID and explained I had brought my wife along to help me vote," he recounts.

"The reaction was one of shock that I dared bring someone along. I had to wait until the entire room was cleared of voters, then I had to sit in front of the electoral commissioner and take an oath that I cannot see. "Then the commissioner reads out the names and ticks in my choice and I sign at the bottom. Why should he be privy to my political beliefs," Mr Colombo asked.

All three associations feel the court judgment has once again denied the visually impaired the right to vote independently and secretly, like other sighted citizens.

Apart from that, they believe it ignored the Equal Opportunities Act, under which they were seeking remedy, and set aside the fact that this law prohibits all discriminatory treatment on grounds of disability.

Mr Colombo pointed out that in the majority of EU member states the blind have the option of using a cardboard template, or electronic voting.

The template is like a cardboard envelope - into which the ballot paper can be slipped - that has holes enabling them to feel where to mark the ballot for their preferred candidate.

"Ideally, you have a cheap and cheerful cassette recorder to go with this cardboard template, but otherwise it is no huge investment. The law does not need to change to introduce a template, it's merely an addition to the stationery," he said.

Several EU countries also have electronic voting for all, irrespective of whether they have sight problems or not. This is a device which provides sound and vision.

"The only country I know which has the same legislation as Malta is Greece. And I do know that those in charge are unofficially told to turn a blind eye if a blind person comes in with a trusted friend to vote," he added.

Mr Colombo said the associations had been battling to get what was rightfully theirs for the past five years, and while everyone sympathised with their cause they never got anywhere.

"We don't want anybody to know how we're voting. We are not going to give up. It would be an absolute disgrace if we are still in the same situation, come next general election."