Mentally challenged and illiterate people should freely vote - MDC-T

Opposition MDC-T has said illiterate voters and the mental challenged must be allowed to vote unless the voter has been declared to be mentally incompetent in terms of the Mental Health Act.

The party said such a process should be done by post or by email.

In a statement, MDC-T  National spokesperson, Obert Gutu said the  party was pushing for the adoption of far-reaching electoral reforms that will ensure the holding of free and fair elections in 2018.

Gutu said voting by illiterate or physically handicapped voters should be carefully handled.

"There must be a provision that the presiding officer must satisfy himself or herself that a person wishing to vote with the assistance of another person has freely agreed to be assisted by the person concerned and no pressure has been applied on him or her to accept such assistance from the person who is to assist him or her.

"A blind voter should be able to vote using a braille template or vote with the assistance of a trusted person without the presence of the presiding officer"

Gutu said if an illiterate voter wishes, he or she should be allowed to vote without being assisted by another person.

"An illiterate voter should be able to vote without assistance by identifying the political party for whom he or she wishes to vote and by identifying the political party by its symbol and then placing his or her mark in the box provided for voting alongside the candidate or on the box containing the party symbol on the ballot paper or on any other box in the line which contains the box for the candidate of the political party concerned,".

Gutu said at each polling station, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) must provide enlarged copies of the ballot paper for use by visually impaired persons and braille voting templates for those who have no eyesight and wish to use such braille voting templates.

"ZEC must ensure that all polling stations are accessible to persons with physical disabilities. A presiding officer may not refuse to allow a person with an apparent mental disability to vote unless the voter has been declared to be mentally incompetent in terms of the Mental Health Act provided that a voter may be excluded from a polling station if the voter with an apparent mental disability behaves in a manner which endangers persons inside the polling station or disrupts the voting process,".