Local Elections freephone for visually impaired voters

Waterford City and County Council has set up a freephone number to assist visually impaired voters in the upcoming Local Elections on Friday, June 7.

Voters can use the dedicated service to hear the details of the candidates running in their local electoral area. The order of candidates will be as they appear on the ballot paper.

Each individual candidate has a corresponding number assigned which will be on the Ballot Paper Template (BPT) available at the voter’s Polling Station.

Voters who may be visually impaired are advised to ask the Presiding Officer to attach a template to their ballot paper, so they can vote confidentially and ensure their preference is accurately recorded.

Raised numbering and Braille on the template, guide the voter to the relevant candidate placement on the Ballot Paper. It is removed once the ballot paper has been marked and the ballot paper is placed in the ballot box, entirely indistinguishable from all the other marked ballot papers.

Vision impaired voters will also continue to have the option of marking their ballot papers with the assistance of a companion or Presiding Officer at the polling station.

The freephone number is 051 849 670 and is available until the close of polls at 10pm on Friday, June 7.