The National Council for Disabled Persons director, Dr Sitiveni Yanuyanutawa says persons with disabilities will nominate those persons whom they fully trust to assist them in marking their ballot.
Dr Yanuyanutawa says these people who will be nominated need to uphold the faith placed in them.
Persons with disabilities are now able to choose a person to assist them in marking their ballot inside the polling station on Election Day and for pre-polls.*
“We hope the trust and belief that we usually have on the members of the society, we will put in the person who will assist us. It is very important that when we nominate someone to assist us in voting – it will be because we trust them, because we will be basically expressing our voting freedom to vote.”
The Fijian Elections Office has modified the procedures for voting for persons with disabilities in line with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act passed in parliament earlier this year.
Fiji has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
