By: R Joyclyn Wea
On October 10, 2023, there will be no sound language interpreters deployed under no circumstances throughout the 5,890 polling locations and 2,080 precincts, according to the National Elections Commission (NEC).
The commission, through its chairperson Davidette Browne Lansanah, responding to a question about the employment of sound-language interpreters to assist persons with disabilities, particularly those who have hearing impairments said it cannot guarantee that such will occur due to the cost-intensive nature of the practice.
Despite working with people with disabilities through its gender section to examine how they may be accommodated into the process, the commission did not budget for employing sound language interpreters for the upcoming 10th October elections, according to Lansanah.
The NEC’s biometric voter registration drive this year registered 12,399 people with disabilities out of the total 247161 registrants, and a 2008 Housing Population Survey found 14 percent were disabled.However, these individuals would be at the mercy of the system. Over 2,080 precincts now have accessibility difficulties for those with disabilities.
