Magnifying glasses to help visually-challenged voters at polling stations

The Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) district committee has planned to provide magnifying glasses to help visually-challenged voters at all polling stations in the district.

The district, comprising 11 Assembly segments, has 2,687 polling stations and one magnifying glass will be provided at each centres, said SVEEP nodal officer P Shivashankara, also Mysuru Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in a press conference, here, on Saturday.

“The initiative is taken to help the voters with eyesight problem. Besides, all the polling centres will be voter-friendly and facilitated with ramps for the convenience of physically-challenged people. As many as 543 polling stations will be provided with wheelchairs, the CEO said.

To improve the voting percentage of women, 24 polling stations will be converted into ‘Pink polling stations’ where all polling officials will be women. Except for police personnel, also women, all officials will be wearing a pink colour dress, he said. The district has 23,666 disabled voters.

In addition, three participation of persons with disability (PwD) polling stations will be established. Haniyamballi polling centre in Varuna, Shiramalli in Nanjangud and PU College Shivapura polling centre in Krishnaraja Nagar Assembly segments will be converted as PwD. The persons with disabilities will manage these stations, the CEO said.