Kosovo to Help Blind Voters

BIRN

18 September 2007

Kosovo�s blind and partially-sighted citizens are to get ballot papers in Braille at the forthcoming elections, an official said on Tuesday.
�We will do everything possible to have the lists in Braille for the local and parliamentary elections on November 17�, Sadik Berisha, executive assistant at the Central Election Commission, CEC, told Balkan Insight on Tuesday.

The Association of the Blind and Partially-sighted held a public debate with political parties about improving conditions for the visually-impaired.

Bujar Kadriu, the head of the association, said that, according to World Health Organisation statistics, there are some 150,000 citizens with disabilities living in Kosovo.

�Of those, 3000 are blind or are visually impaired, and among this number there are 2,000 citizens with the right to vote�, Kadriu said. �Not to offer them alternative ways of voting would be a violation of a basic right.�

Berisha explained that in the past those with poor sight used to vote with someone else�s help, although a small-scale pilot project using Braille was used in the last elections in 2004.

�This time, we have all the conditions needed to provide ballot papers in Braille for all voters who are blind or have impaired vision�, Berisha said.

Kadriu stressed the need for having alternative sources of information about the entire election process, including the programmes of the political parties.

�We want to be informed about what political parties have to offer�, Kadriu said.

Representatives of several parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo, the reformist party, ORA, the Democratic League of Dardania, and the Bosniak coalition, Vakat, said they were preparing to provide information accessible to the blind.

The parliamentary and local elections on November 17 come at a time when talks are underway to determine UN-administered Kosovo�s long-term status.