One month ago, we told you about Inclusive Ideas and the initiation of the SANCB Challenge.

We are really happy to tell you that Lindie’s initiative to look for a global solution through the Inclusive Planet community received a phenomenal response.

When we set off attempting to hunt for feedback we did not anticipate the response we got!
3000 members from 76 countries were made aware of this issue.
40 distinct solutions were presented on how the current template can be made accurate, cost effective and much more accessible.
The Global Voice, the radio station that helps the world's blind and sighted communities see eye to eye, reached out to us and ran a public service announcement for us.

A result like this would normally take weeks, even months. But with the help of the community we have together been able to unlock the potential of collaborative solution creation!

Lindie Van Zyl, we would like to thank you for helping us discover the power of collaborative solutions.

One person’s vision and resolve transformed a local solution to Global Solutions!

One would think - how can an organization in Cape Town, South Africa reach out to people across the world for feedback and suggestions, keeping in mind limitations of time? This is where Lindie decided to use the global community on Inclusive Planet.

Collaboration opens up new possibilities. Possibilities that we cannot not imagine… we can help create Braille voting templates in South Africa, help sighted people understand the challenges faced by a visually impaired person, change government policy or create a movement to make all websites accessible!

Here is what Lindie had to say "This is what we had in mind when we contacted Inclusive Planet, but we are delighted about the amount of assistance we received – it transcended our wildest expectations. We can not thank Inclusive Planet enough for the time and money they saved us by putting us in contact with knowledgeable people from around the globe. We whish you all the success and know that Inclusive planet will become an essential part of most blind people’s world. Thank you for all the trouble and for always being available to assist us and for developing a tool that generated so much interest in our project."

Coming soon, the next inclusive idea which involves three young social entrepreneurs who are opening a computer training institute for the blind in Madagascar! So keep watching this space.

If you want to use the inclusive ideas platform then get in touch with us on contact at inclusiveplanet dot com

Find below the proposal to be submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission for an Improved Braille Voting Template. Before we submit the proposal we wanted to get your ideas and opinions so that we can present the best possible solution. We would request countries which already have a secret ballot for the blind to share your insights, and suggestions. Feel free to post this on different mailing lists, blogs, and websites. The deadline for this activity is 18th February. You can use the "Add Comment" Link to share your ideas. You can use the "View File" link to download the proposal in a word document.

1.INTRODUCTION:

On 22 April 2009, during the general elections for the National Assembly and the 9 Provincial Legislatures, the provision by the Independent Electoral Commission of a Braille template to enable blind voters in South Africa to vote independently in secret for the first time caused a good deal of excitement and controversy. The excitement was due to the fact that blind voters were fully enabled to exercise their citizenship rights, guaranteed in the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution, which are further protected by section 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The controversy arose from the inadequacies of the template, its non-availability at some polling stations and the general ignorance of its use among many voters and electoral officials. The concept was good, but the design of the template, the material used in its manufacture and the standard of Braille on the template left much to be desired.

At a meeting at the headquarters of the South African National Council for the Blind in Pretoria on 18 November 2009 between officials of the Independent Electoral Commission and a representative group of interested stakeholders from the blindness sector, the IEC invited the stakeholders to put forward a proposal for the design and production of an improved voting template to enable blind voters to vote independently and in secret; and another proposal outlining areas of research, statistics and civic voter education, including collaboration and joint facilitation of training of trainers (with time frames), which might be built into the existing CKR004 project.

2.PROPOSAL:

Having spent several weeks interacting with other blind voters on the topic by means of an Internet discussion list and having made several experimental models of the template, I now put forward the following proposals, which stem from my initial suggestion on 18 November 2009, and the interaction referred to above. I also supply examples (made of paper) to illustrate my proposals. See example A for a template to accommodate the longest list of parties/candidates and example B to accommodate shorter lists.

3.DEFINITIONS:

Because of the huge amount of confusion and irritation caused in the past by some voters and some members of the media apparently not understanding the difference between the words “ballot paper” and “template” or “Braille template”, it seems prudent to define these terms, which are used in this document.

3.1 The ballot paper is the printed slip of paper, provided by the IEC, on which the voter exercises his vote by making a mark, usually an x, in the appropriate box.

3.2 The template is the cover or sleeve, into which the ballot paper is inserted, which has tactile features to guide the blind voter to the spot on the ballot paper where he chooses to make his mark, thus allowing his vote to be indistinguishable from all others.

4.PREREQUISITES:

4.1 It is imperative that Section 39: “39 Assistance to certain voters” of the Electoral Act, Act 73 of 1998, and the corresponding section 48 of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act, Act 27 of 2000 remain in force and that the blind voter is given the option of using a template with or without the assistance envisaged in the relevant Section of the respective Acts, as quoted above. In summary: the blind voter may request an electoral official to assist him, which must be done in the presence of certain party agents, or he may request his own helper to assist him without any supervision.

4.2 To ensure the successful use of the template, the Independent Electoral Commission shall lay down mandatory specifications for the design and printing of the ballot paper which shall be identical as regards the features listed below, regardless of whether the ballot papers are to be used for general elections of the National Assembly, Provincial Legislatures, Local Government or any by-election:

4.2.1 The depth of the top margin of the ballot paper;

4.2.2 The width of the right-hand margin of the ballot paper;

4.2.3 The dimensions of the boxes on the ballot paper, in which the voter makes his mark;

4.2.4 The distance between the lower border of the top margin of the ballot paper and the upper edge of the first box in the column of boxes printed down the right-hand side of the ballot paper;

4.2.5 The size of the gap between boxes in the column of boxes.

4.3 The use of the template would be greatly advanced were all ballot papers to be exactly the same length, regardless of the amount of information printed on them. In the case of shorter lists of parties/candidates, the portion of the ballot paper not required for printing would simply be left blank and not be cut off. This would avoid the possible difficulties, anticipated in 5.16 below.

5.DESIGN OF PROPOSED TEMPLATE:

5.1 The template will be made of good quality cardboard or fairly rigid plastic with a matt finish inside to minimize slipping of the ballot paper.

5.2 The shape of the template will be similar to an oblong envelope or pocket, closed at the top and bottom and on the right-hand side, with an opening right along the left-hand side.

5.3 The length of the template will be the exact size to accommodate the longest ballot paper to be used in a particular election. The width of the template will be similar to the width of the widest ballot paper to be used in a particular election, but, provided all features printed on the right-hand side of all ballot papers are identical, the width will not be critical. A slightly wider ballot paper protruding on the left-hand side of the template or a slightly narrower ballot paper not quite reaching the left-hand edge of the template will not impede the use of the template.

5.4 A column of square windows, slightly smaller than the boxes on the ballot paper, will be cut into the right-hand side of the face of the template to correspond exactly to the column of boxes on the ballot paper when that has been inserted face upwards into the template.

5.5 Immediately to the left of the column of windows, Braille numerals will be embossed, from 1 at the top until whatever the maximum required number is, followed by a short line of dots, using 3 braille colons (dots 25), which will end at the middle of the left-hand edge of the corresponding window.

5.6 Immediately to the left of the Braille numerals, a corresponding column of tactile raised ordinary numerals will be printed.

5.7 Approximately 3 cm from the left edge of the template, a round peephole or viewing port 2.3 cm in diameter (the size of a R2 coin) will be cut into the face of the template, the top of which will be directly in line with the upper edge of the first window in the column of windows on the right-hand side of the template.

TO USE THE TEMPLATE

5.8 The ballot paper will be inserted face upwards into the template through the opening on the left-hand side by the designated electoral official or under his supervision, care being taken to ensure that the ballot paper is absolutely straight, not crushed or crumpled, and that it is flush with the edges of the template.

5.9 Correct positioning of the ballot paper will be confirmed by ensuring that no print lines are visible through the windows on the right-hand side of the template, while print may be visible through the viewing port on the left-hand side.

5.10 If necessary, a bulldog clip may be used on the left-hand side of the template to keep the ballot paper securely in place.

5.11 Informed by pre-election publicity or by having the numbered list of parties/candidates read to him by the designated electoral official or by the voter’s personal helper, the blind voter will know the number allocated to the party/candidate of his choice. The voter will then identify the appropriate window by touch by reading the Braille or tactile numerals or by simply counting the short Braille guiding lines or the windows themselves.

5.12 The short Braille guiding line will lead the voter’s finger into the corresponding window, minimizing the danger of straying into the wrong window.

5.13 The square shape of the window will enable the blind voter to write a perfect x by drawing 2 diagonal lines with the pencil provided, one running from the top left-hand corner to the bottom right-hand corner of the window and the other from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left-hand corner.

5.14 The same template will be used for ballot papers listing fewer parties/candidates, by pasting masking tape or cellotape over the lower windows that are not required.

5.15 To avoid the tape sticking to the back of the template through the windows, a slip of paper may be placed inside the template behind those windows before the tape is applied.

5.16 When inserting the shorter ballot paper, extreme care will need to be exercised to ensure that the ballot paper is flush with both the top and the right-hand edges of the template and, if necessary, held in place with a bulldog clip, as described in 5.10 above.

6. IMPROVEMENTS:

Compared to the April 2009 template, the proposed template has the following improved features:

6.1 The proposed template will be made of less flexible material and will have a “back”, which means that the template will be firmer and the ballot paper will not slip out easily or flap about as happened in 2009.

6.2 The proposed matt finish on the inside of the template will reduce the chances of the ballot paper slipping as compared to the gloss finish of the 2009 template.

6.3 The less flexible proposed template will be less likely to be folded or crumpled than was the case with the 2009 template, as reported by a blind voter in Kimberley in 2009.

6.4 Because only numerals will appear on the template, it will be suitable for all languages and for all elections, National, Provincial, Local Government and all corresponding by-elections.

6.5 The short solid dotted Braille line embossed on the proposed template will be much easier to follow by touch than the longer line of single Braille dots leading from the numerals and abbreviated names of parties on the far left of the template to the windows on the far right, which was used on the 2009 template.

6.6 Taking into account that at present the majority of blind South Africans are not Braille literate, the blind voter, who does not know Braille, will also have the option of exercising a secret vote independently by counting the tactile guiding lines or the windows, as described in 5.13 above.

6.7 The same proposed template will be suitable for use in all elections, regardless of the variations in length of lists of parties/candidates.

6.8 As soon as the maximum number of parties/candidates registered to participate in any election is known, production of the proposed template can commence, provided, of course, that the features, stipulated for the production of the ballot papers, in 5. above, are complied with. Variations in any other printed matter on the face of the ballot paper will have no effect on the blind voter.

7. ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATIONS AND COMMENTS :

7.1 Although the suggestion in 4.3 constitutes quite a radical departure from current practice, its implementation will not inconvenience voters in any way.

7.2 With reference to 5.14, it is not proposed that either the producers of templates or the head office staff of the IEC should apply the “masking” of the windows not required for a particular election. This would be an impossible task, especially in Local Government elections with thousands of variations and the additional logistical nightmare of somehow ensuring the delivery of the correct template/templates to individual polling stations. Because no more than a handful of templates will be needed in any polling station, the task of “masking” the windows not required can be assigned to a designated electoral official or volunteer.

7.3 With reference to 5.13, it should be borne in mind that many South Africans have never handled a pencil in their lives and that this situation applies to some blind voters as well. It is therefore important that the teaching of such skills should receive attention during voter education. In such sessions, verbal descriptions of the printed text on the ballot paper would also be extremely helpful to the blind voter.

7.4 It is important that the producer of templates be selected through an open tender process, that the producer has access to a suitable Braille graphics program for the production of the template, and that sample templates and mock ballot papers be made available to potential voters and electoral officials for testing and training purposes well ahead of any election.

7.5 It is important that no alteration to the template shall be valid unless expressly authorized by the Independent Electoral Commission, who, in turn, will have consulted the blindness sector task team as a whole and not only one or two of its members.

7.6 Should any steps be contemplated to institute electronic voting in South Africa, it is important that the blindness sector task team be consulted in advance to ensure full independent accessibility for blind voters. At this stage, technology used for electronic help desks with input via a standard telephone keypad seems to offer a likely solution for such a voting process