Elections Commissioner General Saman Ratnayake said that a programme has been initiated to issue a separate ID card to all those with disabilities in order to ensure that they will be able to cast their vote without difficulty.
He said this programme will be implemented within the next five years.
Ratnayake was speaking at an event at the Polonnaruwa District Secretariat.
As a pilot project, 5,000 differently-abled people will be selected from 10 districts with 500 people chosen from each district and steps will be taken to issue ID cards to them within this year, he said.
Ratnayake further said that according to the Census of 2011, there were nearly 1.6 million people with disabilities in Sri Lanka and by 2023, that number has increased, and it is the responsibility of the Elections Commission (EC) to give maximum facilities for the eligible voters among them to vote at future elections.
He said that many families do not include the names of differently-abled people in the voting register because of the difficulties in taking them to the polling station. With the ID cards introduced by the Elections Commission, it will be possible for the differently-abled to vote in every election without hassle.
Article Credit: Daily News