In this year’s election, people with special needs are said to use an express line to cast their votes.
In NCD, the Cheshire Disability Service ground was used to set up a polling booth for those living in the Moresby North West Electorate.
However, like the rest of PNG, things did not go smoothly for them. They began setting up early, but were not able to start voting until around 11.30am.
The reason for the delay was there was no candidate poster for the open candidates.
Ben Tagei, was the Presiding Officer today. As Chairman of the Disability Association, it was his intention that specific polling booths for persons with disability were going to be set up in NCD’s three different electorates.
Today, only those living in the North West were able to vote here.
Joyce, who works at the Cheshire Services said, while express lines are ok, there is the question of accessibility.
Today, for those at the Cheshire polling booth, they had access to staff and other resources to make their voting experience less confusing, something Joyce hopes will happen for other electorates as well in the future.
