In anticipation of the upcoming presidential elections, competent institutions should create conditions for polling stations to be accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs), as well as to have ballot templates for visually impaired persons, which enable them to vote independently and secretly.
This was announced by the executive director of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro (SSCG), Goran Macanović, in a statement for "PR Center", emphasizing that it is very important that competent institutions ensure the creation of conditions for the active voting rights of PWDs, on the basis of equality with other citizens.
He reminded that the domestic legislation and the international Convention on the rights of PWD oblige the state and all institutions involved in the preparation and implementation of electoral processes to create conditions for the equal participation of PWD in public and political life.
"One of the aspects in public and political life is active voting rights, which implies that conditions must be created so that PWDs can choose their representatives in elections in a dignified manner and that the process of active voting rights should be public, open and secret when they are in regarding the issue of PWD groups such as the visually impaired," said Macanović.
According to him, in the context of creating conditions, it is necessary for competent institutions - municipal election commissions, the State Election Commission (SEC), as well as political parties through their representatives in polling committees - to ensure and create conditions for polling stations to be in facilities that are accessible PWDs, to enable them to access, move and stay in the premises where the polling stations are located, which unfortunately, as he says, was not the case in previous election processes.
"When it comes to visually impaired people, it is very important to comply with the recommendations we gave in the previous election processes, and the SEC through its documents accepted our suggestions in the form of recommendations to place Ethyson strips at the polling stations, which aim to facilitate orientation and movement of visually impaired persons at the polling station itself," said Macanović.
In previous election processes, as he pointed out, this element of accessibility was present only in a limited number of polling stations, mostly in larger polling stations, but it is necessary to create these conditions in all polling stations.
"When it comes to the voting process, it is very important to comply with the obligation that exists in the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament, according to the rules and by-laws of the SEC that a ballot template must be found at the polling station, which allows visually impaired people to independently, if the template is adequately prepared, it also enables the secret voting of visually impaired people," explained Macanović.
He said that they had different experiences in previous election processes.
"In most cases it happened that we had a template for the ballot that allowed for independent voting, but it was made in such a way that it did not allow for secret voting, because during the act of voting, a pencil mark was left on the template, which was a violation of the secrecy of voting, because the members of the electoral committee could know after voting who the voter voted for," explained Macanović.
As he added, in election processes where an adequate template for the ballot was provided, it often happened that the members of the polling committees did not know why they were using that template, so they lost it on the election day itself.
"It often happened that when voters with impaired vision asked for a template, they could not get it. It is very important to pay attention to the fact that at the polling station there must be at least two templates for the ballot and that they should be in the preparation of election materials made of materials and in such a way as to ensure the secrecy of voting," Macanović pointed out.
He pointed out that it is very important that at the polling station there is also an informational brochure in Braille that contains the information on the ballot, so that the visually impaired voter at the time of voting can be reminded and familiarized with the order of candidates or electoral lists on to the ballot itself.
"When it comes to an adequate template for the ballot, it is very important that it be in dark blue color so that there is no trace of the ballpoint pen used to vote on the template itself. It is also very important that the slots where the serial numbers are located within which the voter with impaired vision circles the desired candidate should be with metal rings or the template should be made of some material that makes it impossible for a trace of chemicals to remain on the template," said Macanović.
He reminded that after the parliamentary elections in 2020, due to the failure to provide an adequate template for the ballot, the SSCG sent a complaint to the Ombudsman with a request to give an opinion on whether there was discrimination on the part of the SEC in the election process, because it did not provide an adequate template for the ballot .
"According to our complaint, the ombudsman gave an opinion that the SEC discriminated in the election process," said Macanović.
The assistant director of the SSCG, Katarina Bigović Kulić, said that stereotypes and an inadequate approach towards PWDs are the most common reasons why PWDs do not participate actively in public and political life, when we talk about the possibility of running for office and being elected.
"There is a strong emphasis on enabling independent and secret voting, but we also have to talk about another aspect recognized by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is that persons with disabilities can run for office, be elected and take public positions," Bigović said. Kulic.
According to her, the situation in Montenegro and the stereotypes that are most often directed towards PWDs are that they are not capable, that they do not have certain opportunities, and because of this, political parties usually weigh whether PWDs and their mention will work to their advantage or harm.
"First of all, PWD and the inclusion of PWD issues must be active when we talk about committees, which are present on election day, participation in electoral committees, as well as the possibility of running for office in order to raise certain issues of PWD at the essential level, and not as they are raised today - mostly through mentioning, enabling a better quality of life, but not essentially what changes we can see," said Bigović Kulić.
She also said that due to the aforementioned unfavorable social context, she does not expect a candidate in the presidential elections who will be a PWD.
"What we would like to see in the foreseeable future is the candidacy of PWDs when we talk about parliamentary and local elections. We think that PWDs can do their job in the best way, take public office and show the citizens of Montenegro that PWDs are active members of society if we offer them the opportunity to express themselves," concluded Bigović Kulić.
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