The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced that special arrangements will be made to ensure that polling stations are wheelchair accessible for the upcoming presidential election. This statement was made by ECM Vice President Ismail Habeeb during a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Elections.
During the meeting, President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), Mariyam Muna, raised concerns about the current design of polling booths, which presents challenges for individuals in wheelchairs when casting their votes. Muna highlighted that the existing setup forces wheelchair users to seek assistance, thus compromising their right to a secret ballot. She also mentioned difficulties faced by wheelchair users in reaching the high ballot boxes to deposit their votes.
In response to these concerns, Vice President Habeeb assured that discussions have been held to address the issue of wheelchair accessibility at polling stations. He stated that solutions will be implemented to address the concerns raised by the HRCM for the upcoming presidential election.
Moreover, ECM will be implementing procedures to enable visually impaired voters to mark their ballots independently, following the recently ratified amendment to the Elections General Act. The electoral body is currently in discussions on whether to incorporate braille to facilitate voting for visually impaired individuals.
The presidential election is scheduled to take place on September 9, with a potential second round on September 30. ECM is currently finalizing the voters' list and determining the locations for the placement of ballot boxes.