The recently concluded assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Pondicherry and West Bengal saw the debut of ‘Braille-enabled Electronic Voting Machine’ (E.V.M.).

Assam’s Barhampur constituency saw as many as 32 visually impaired voters exercise their franchise independently. State Chief Electoral Officer J.P. Prakash said that this is indeed a welcome development and can be seen as a positive pointer towards the polling in three other states.

Conducted on an experimental basis, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry too, replicated the initiative by identifying one or two constituencies in the region.This is how the Braille enabled E.V.M. works - The number corresponding to the name of a candidate is in Braille notation on the ballot paper near the button in the E.V.M. Visually impaired voters are made to go through a dummy ballot paper in the polling station that has the candidate’s name and corresponding number in Braille notation. The voter would then have to remember the number corresponding to the candidate he wished to vote for. Then, he goes to the E.V.M. in the voting counter and casts his vote.

Ramps were also set up in every polling booth to help physically disabled voters enter the booth on wheel chairs in these elections.