Augustino Wudu, Chairperson of South Sudan Union of Persons with Disabilities speaking to Eye Radio on Thursday, 16th Nov 2023. Photo: Charles Wote/Eye Radio.

The Union of Persons with Disabilities is appealing to the National Election Commission to consider transcribing voting materials into braille to avoid diversion of their votes in 2024 elections.

South Sudan is expected to hold the first-ever general elections in December 2024 to usher in an elected government in the country.

According to the 2018 peace accord, the National Elections Commission shall request assistance from the United Nations and the African Union in the establishment of subsidiary electoral management bodies at states level.

These include the establishment of procedures for the voter registry and targeted voter registration, procurement of electoral material and capacity building.

Others are polling and elections security arrangements, tallying and counting, support to civic education and voter outreach among others.

However, it would be difficult for the 150,000 visually impaired South Sudanese to cast their vote in the election if the voting papers are not translated into braille – a system of writing and reading for the blind.

Augustino Wudu, Chairperson of the Union of People with Disabilities, said his expectation is to have free, fair, credible and peaceful election, where the voice of all people is heard in the country.

In an interview with Eye Radio, Wudu shared his challenging experience of the 2010 general elections before South Sudan’s independence, where his vote was ticked on his behalf.

He said the Electoral Commission should this time transcribe the voting materials into braille to avoid diversion of the visually impaired person’s vote.

“The Electoral Commission should consider the first coming election are free, fair and peaceful and credible and it is accessible for persons with disabilities particularly the polling stations and materials,” he told Eye Radio.

“I want to advocate particularly for the visually impaired I want to see that the voting materials are transcribed into braille so that the visually impaired voters can access easily, this is to avoid cheating.”

On November 3, President Kiir reconstituted the Political Parties Council, the National Elections Commission and the National Constitutional Review Commission, which are key to the conduct of successful elections in the country.