Editorial

How sad that associations representing the blind had to go all the way to the law courts to plead for the granting of facilities so that the visually impaired can enjoy the privacy they deserve at general, local and European elections. Sadder still, the courts could not provide a remedy - given the wording of the law - but the presiding judge said he sympathised with the applicants and suggested that the House of Representatives ought to seek a solution to their issue.

Indeed, members of Parliament, who were, no doubt, aware of the pleas being made by the Malta Society of the Blind, the Gozo Aid for the Visually Impaired and the Torball Society for the Blind, should have acted without the need for these associations to go to court and for the judge to convey such a clear message to them.

The request the visually impaired are making is a simple one. They are requesting a tool, a template similar to a cardboard envelope, that would enable them to exercise their basic right to vote in private. The absence of this facility, they argue, is a violation of the Equal Opportunities Act.

Ron Colombo, president of the Malta Society of the Blind, was right to say he felt humiliated by the procedure that has to be followed every time he votes. He, of course, speaks on behalf of all visually-impaired voters.

In terms of the General Elections Act, whenever the incapacitated (or the illiterate) turn up to vote, the room is cleared, the voter has to take an oath that he is incapacitated and then two assistant commissioners (who are sworn to secrecy) read out the names on the ballot paper and number his choices. Why should the assistant commissioner be privy to my political beliefs, Mr Colombo rightly asks. Why should the visually impaired not enjoy the same rights as the rest of us?

The template, or electronic voting, would obviate the need for such a cumbersome procedure, as well as giving the blind the possibility of voting in private. Surely this is not too much to ask?

The situation is, happily, very different from what was an infrequent practice up to some time ago when some voters used to claim they were illiterate in order to be assisted to vote, in what many suspected was a tactic to ensure they voted in a certain way.

The General Elections Act strait jackets the Electoral Commission and one can understand, therefore, that it could not grant the request being made by the associations without a change in the law.

The surprise is that with the electoral system and the electoral process under review by the parties, change was not brought about sooner.

Urgent consultations should be held this summer by the commission with people with disabilities to establish clearly how matters can be improved not just for the visually impaired, but also for other people who suffer other forms of disabilities. Amendments to the General Elections Act could then be included in the Constitution Amendment Bill already before Parliament. That Bill is related to the holding of elections - it regulates the drawing up of electoral boundaries. Having a single Bill to amend different laws is far from uncommon in the House and such a procedure would save time as the general election looms.

Voting is a fundamental right in a democracy and people with disabilities should be able to exercise this right in freedom, without feeling in any way restricted, humiliated or discriminated.