When Muhammad Alhaji, a resident of Patigi in Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara state cast his vote in the 2019 general elections, he had to rely on one of his relatives who guided him in choosing candidates/parties of his choice.

Though blind, Alhaji exercised his right as enshrined in the constitution, but he still was unsatisfied and suspected that he might have been cheated.


Alhaji thought the person who assisted him to cast his vote might be supporting another party other than his own and could have made him cast the vote against his wish without his knowledge.

“Though he is my son and I trusted him, one of the implications of this is that if he is an APC member and I want to vote for PDP, there are 100 percent chances that he will put my hand in APC without my knowledge. Thus, for us blind voters, our votes might not reflect our intentions.”

He told Informant247 that “There was nothing like Braille ballot or any assistive technology for us in previous elections and I don’t think we will have such in subsequent elections – especially 2023. If they will provide it, we are supposed to have gotten the information and even training by now. But nothing yet.”


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https://applesbite.com/how-blind-people-are-frustrated-by-inecs-failure-to-provide-braille-ballot/