17 May 2017

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) principal elections officer for Kgatleng District, Mr Gakenosi Motshwarakgole says every eligible voter has the right to vote for their preferred leader.

Speaking during a workshop for people living with disabilities in Mochudi, Mr Motshwarakgole said it was their duty as IEC to ensure that all were catered for during the election process to help them cast their vote.

He said the workshop was organised to establish how people living with disabilities could be assisted in the election process adding that the 2002 Voter Apathy Study had shown that people living with disabilities seconded the youth when it came to not taking part in elections.

Mr Motshwarakgole said there were a lot of changes made in the coming elections which included increase in candidate funds and the introduction of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Furthermore, he said if any person living with disabilities wanted to register for elections or be nominated they could visit IEC offices which were open during working days for inquiries.

Ms Onneile Raditloaneng from Pudulogong said the electoral committee should include audio in the electronic voting machines to make it easy for the visually chalenged  to vote as sometimes they did not vote due to privacy reasons.

She encouraged the IEC office to visit their school Pudulogong and Motswedi Rehabilitation Centre for the demonstration of the voting machine before the coming elections so they could feel and understand the machine and its processes.

Ms Raditloaneng suggested that a separate date for elections be set for the disabled saying they were strained by the long queues.

Maitumelo Sekgabo, a student at Motswedi Rehabilitation Centre thanked the IEC for taking time to educate them on their services and making sure they were equally involved in the election process.

Furthermore Ms Sekgabo expressed hope that their requests will be considered and all the necessary aids such as transport from social workers, braille and audio CD will be considered in future. ENDS