BK believes that the person who he had taken to cast his vote had voted another candidate. Though he believes his vote was misused he had to keep mum. Similarly, there are 25 disabled voters in Srimastha VDC of Humla. It´s a five hour walk for them to reach the nearest polling booth. [break]
As the government doesn´t have any policy to ensure voting rights to the disabled, they are unlikely to cast their votes in the upcoming election.
As per the national census-2011, there are 54,800 adults in the mid-western region who have one or the other form of disability. However, the district election office does not have the exact figure of the disabled registered on the electoral roll.
Chief election officer of Jumla, Narayan Prasad Pokharel, said the disabled, especially in the hilly areas, would face difficulty going to the polling booths to cast their votes.
Pokharel also informed that voters in Jumla would have to walk for four to five hours to reach the nearest polling booths. He it would be impossible for the disabled to cast their votes given the situation.
Samar Bahadur Malla of Birendranagar in Surkhet reached the polling station to cast his vote with the help of two of his neighbors in the last CA election. “Luckily, I had my acquaintances with me. Many other people like me had to return without casting their votes as they had no one who they could confide on to cast their votes,” said Malla.
Voters with visual impairment fare the worst. “The voting right of visually impaired people like us is misused by the person who helps us cast our votes,” said Suresh Khadka, chairman Nepal Blind Association (NBA) Surkhet.
Khadka said polling officer or other relatives should be allowed to cast vote on their behalf in presence of other people. Chief election officer in Surkhet Tilak Rijal said the government should introduce disabled-friendly polling system to ensure that the disabled are not deprived of their voting rights.
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