For differently-abled individuals voting is a burden

Rights groups claim that election authorities have ignored the plight of voters with mobility issues and the elderly

PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/ KARACHI:

All the necessary arrangements for Thursday’s big day have been completed and the populace of the country is ready to choose its representatives but authorities have seemingly failed to make any special arrangements for differently abled individuals trying to exercise their right to vote.

In this regard, Wajid Hussain, who heads a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for the rights of differently-abled people, said that elderly citizens and differently-abled individuals have been ignored by the apex electoral watchdog. “In the absence of wheelchair ramps, family members of elderly citizens and those with amputations will have to help in the voting process. It is unfortunate that we did not learn any lessons from the 2018 general election,” remarked Hussain.

Concurring with Hussain, Ihsan Ullah, who works with an NGO that provides assistance to individuals with special needs, informed that no arrangements for differently abled individuals had been made in K-P either. “Most of the polling stations in Peshawar have no access for differently abled individuals, whether that be a ramp or a separate washroom. This will disenfranchise a significant number of voters,” Ihsan Ullah predicted.

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Sadia Afsheen, a differently abled voter from Karachi, resonates with the activist’s prediction. “Even in the 2018 general election it was very tough to cast my vote at a polling station in Liaquatabad. I do not expect that this time around will be any different.”

Muqaddas Khan, a 76-year-old, who also resides in Karachi, can relate to Afsheen’s experience. Khan was of the view that the government or the ECP did not care much about the participation of elderly or differently abled citizens of the country; and that they were left to fend for themselves.

Syeda Imtiaz Fatima, an activist for the rights of differently abled persons from Lahore, who herself is not mobile, expanding upon Khan’s assessment said that remote and hard-to-reach polling stations, along with those that had multiple floors were a major hurdle in voting for her and others like her. Fatima implored for such polling stations to be done away with.

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Agreeing with Fatima, Afsha Afridi, a special needs individual from Peshawar, said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the government had to do more to facilitate differently abled individuals, especially women. “It is already challenging for women to vote and if you add differently abled women to the mix, it becomes a nightmare,” regretted Afridi.

When asked about the plight of differently abled individuals vis-a-vis voting, Shamshad Khan, Chief Provincial Election Commissioner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), assured that the ECP had dedicated polling staff for differently abled individuals and given directions to facilitate any elderly or differently abled individuals trying to vote.

Nadeem Haider, the ECP’s Central Spokesperson, also reiterated Khan’s assertions. “Instructions have been issued to provincial chief secretaries and district administrations to arrange wheelchairs and ramps at polling stations. Presiding officers have been directed to facilitate pregnant women and elderly citizens as per the situation's convenience,” claimed Haider while talking to the Express Tribune.