With one day to go, accessible voting still out of reach for PwD voters

With voting day just around the corner, accessibility continues to be a challenge for persons with disabilities (PwD) seeking to exercise their franchise. From finding screen reader-friendly candidate lists to knowing who’s contesting and the actual act of voting, long-standing difficulties persist despite repeated interventions, disability rights activists say.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Form 7A—a constituency-wise list of candidates in the order of their display on electronic voting machines (EVMs)—was made accessible. This allowed voters with visual disabilities to know the candidates, their symbols and their positions on the EVM, thereby helping them cast their votes.