Union Election Commission held a virtual meeting with the civil society organizations focusing the issues of persons with disabilities yesterday morning.
Chairman of UEC U Hla Thein, and commission members, representatives from the 29 CSOs for PWDs, the responsible persons from International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) took part in the meeting which discussed the cooperation between the UEC and the CSOs to ensure the participation of the PWDs in the 2020 General Election.
The UEC Chairman said that the Article 369 (a) of the Constitution and the Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provide for equal political and electoral rights of persons with disabilities.
He also added that every person with disability has the right to vote in the elections and has the right to be elected in the election according to the Section 29 and Section 30 of the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, enacted by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in 2015.
The UEC’s Strategic Plan (2014-2018) and (2019-2022) also included a section on promoting inclusiveness, focusing on the right of all persons with disabilities to vote.
In the 2017 and 2018 by-elections, the commission arranged 9 model polling stations in 5 townships of the Yangon Region, Sagaing Region and Chin State to facilitate the voting of the people with disabilities.
The commission also helped the visually impaired persons with Braille Template to vote in the election. There are a total number of 87,280 disabled voters in 2020 General Election.
He continued that the commission provided the demonstration lessons and follow-up trainings on disability voting during the electoral capacity building trainings held in Grand Amara Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw in November 2019.
As the 2020 General Election will be organized druing the COVID-19 crisis, the commission is working to ensure safe and secure voting in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Sports.—MNA
(Translated by Ei Phyu Phyu Aung)
