Writen by Cresensia de Castro (Citizen journalist)
People with dissability always facing challenges in voting station when it comes to election. They do not feel safe, and got discriminated in the voting stations. In some places, people with disability could not access to the voting stations because of their disable conditions and voting stations are not accesible to them.
A vissually impaired women Rita de Jesus (24), from Manatuto municipality, she explained her experience went for voting in the past election period. Everything was ok in the voting station but there is no especific place for people with disability and that is very challenging.
“There should be a place for people with disabilty, so that when they come they have the freedom to exercise their rights. People need to know that people with disabaility have their own types of disability, there are people that visually impaired like me, others may have hearing impairment, or other disabilities. It should be places for people with disability to vote with their own conscience and polling staff at the voting centers should treat everyone equally”, Rita explained.
She also said that people with disability may have some limitations in their body but they should not be discriminated because they do have capacity like the non-disable one.
Another visión impaired man from Viqueque, Martinho Guterres, aged 35, expressed that government is not well prepared for the election to ensure that people with disability can access to the voting stations. There is very limited accesibility, poeple with visión impairment can not vote by their won because the voting paper is not in braile letter. For us there is no secrecy in our voting . Governmet should print braile voting paper like other countries do.
Martinho also raised concern over the voting station that has stairs. It makes it dificult for people with wheel chair to pass and if a disable person need to passs he or she would need other people to help and also some voting staff don’t know the terms that they need to be used for calling us.
“I would like to ask the goverment to créate conditions in the voting stations according to the needs of people with dissability. Some voting stations have high voting cabin and it makes difficult for people that phisically disable to vote. I would like to ask STAE (Secretariado Técnico Administração Eleitoral) and CNE (Comissão Nacional das Eleições) to cooperate with international agencies to create conditions for people with disability to participate fullt in the election,” says Martinho.
Martinho also offered assistance by saying that in his organization can produce voting papers with braile. If the goverment can partners with international organization then this can be done. It is also a need to go to the grassroot level to desiminate information about instruments in the voting stations.
On the other hand, the Executive Director of Disability Association (ADTL), Cezario dan Silva stated that, according to their observation people with disability participate in the election because of local authorities and political parties encouraged them, even they know that there are impediments but still wanted to exercise their vote.
“Barriers in the voting stations are mostly about accesbility. People with vision impairment, fizically disable, and elderly people can not exercise their right apropriately. And for people whom are visually impaired they will not have secrecy in their vote”, Says ADTL Director.
Cesario also explains that when there is no accesible conditions in the voting stations that is a form of discrimination. People may also think why do people with disability need to participate in the election because they have the same rights like others.
“As association we have our own difficulty to know how many people with disability actually vote. We that according to the censos we have 38.000 people with disability but we dont know how many actually vote. Voter education is essential so common people can undertand the rights of people with disabilty,” expressed Cesario.
He would like to suggest to the goverment to create condition for people with disability, particularly people whom are visually impaired to vote. He also saying that we need braile voting paper for that.
Diretor Raes Hadomi Timor Oan (RHTO), Joãozito dos Santos observed that number of people with disability participation in the election has been increase. In the year 2017 – 2018 election the number has increase by 150 people.
Joãozito mentioned also that Constitution of Timor-Leste already guaranted the rights of people with disability. He particularly mentioned article 16 where stated about human rights, universality and equality which means all citizens have the same rights and no discrimination based on etnicity, religión, skin color, politic, ideology, physical ability, and others. He referes especifically to the article 21.
“In the article 21 stated especifically that state shall protect people with disability to execise their rights according to the Constitution.The Article 21 clearly stated about state duty to fullfil the right of people with disability. State through STAE and CNE need to put that into practice so that it can increase participaton of people with disability. It means voting stations need to have ramp, handrail and toilet that are accesible. All of this need to go in the plan and budget for the election,” Director Joãozito said.
Joãozito also pointed out that this need to be cross sectoral coordination, STAE and CNE can identify voting stations but then they would need to work it out with Ministry of Public Work to set the station and makes it accesible to our people. Another issue that Joãozito also refers to is the paralel voting condition.
“In the recent Presidential election people with visual impairment confused with paralel voting condition because in the paralel voting condition people are allow to register first and many people do not know about this and it makes more difficult for visually impaired people. We need to learn from this situation and do not repete that in the Parliamentary and Suco election”, Director of RHTO expressed.
In relation to the concerns raised the General Director of STAE, Acilino Manuel Branco, replied by saying that the electoral system is inclusive, and everybody have the same oppurtunity, and any other type of citizens without comparing their conditions. With electoral concept we would like to ensure participation of all citizens by providing civic education, electoral education so that they all can exercise their rights appropriately.
“STAE and CNE always promote civic education and electoral education to all citizens particularly eletorates that joing the electoral process. We know that people need to be sensible and conscience when they vote and their vote determine the future of the nation. So each citizens need to ensure that he or she execise their rights in the correct way and for this to happen we helped them with voter education,” says Acilino.
Acilino also explains that in past election, staff of STAE provide assistance to the electorates, including electorates with disability through voter education so that they can make the right choice in electing their candidates and political party.
People with disability and advocates for the rights of people with disability mentioned early that there is no secrecy when people with disability vote in the election. For this concern the General Director explained that the law allows people with no disability issue can assist the visually impaired citizens to vote for candidate or political party. In the future this system need to be improved further so that people with disability can exercise the voting rights in democratic manner.
STAE as the electoral administrative body will work together with disabled people’s organizations such as RHTO, ADTL and other international partners to provide capacity building to people with disability to prepare better for upcoming election.
“We have work together to do research for locating áreas where people with disability lives, with that we will develop plan to ensure that they would able to vote in the coming election. We also work on legal procedures, regulations, and law that can facilitate the electoral administrative body to do its work in supporting people with disability,” added Acilino.
This preparation process is not only in the hand of STAE but we will do that work together with disabled people’s organizations, and international agency such as UNDP. Training certainly needed and also voter education so that once accesibility issues resolved people with disbaility can vote acordingly.
The work to identify villages where people with disability lives is ongoing and type of disability, number disable people in the area. This information allows STAE to better plan and identify any supporting instrument and infrastructure that support to increase the participation from people with disability in the coming election.