Voting aids for visually impaired people for the Bundestag elections

So-called voting templates are available to blind and visually impaired voters for the Bundestag elections. Around 1,300 of these stencils have already been ordered and delivered in Saxony, according to a request from the Saxony Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. However, this is only enough for a fraction of the people affected. According to the association, it is estimated that around 10,000 blind people and around 25,000 visually impaired people live in Saxony.

And this is how the voting template works: the ballot paper is perforated or cut off at the top right-hand corner, i.e. it is tactilely marked, according to the state election administration. This allows those affected to insert the ballot paper independently and correctly.

Circular holes are punched out where the boxes for the individual parties are located, which can be easily felt. They are also outlined in black so that they can be easily seen by visually impaired people. Next to these fields are ascending numbers in Braille and tactile black lettering.

In order to know which hole to place your cross in, you need an audio CD. This CD explains how to use the voting template, how the ballot paper is structured, which candidates and parties are standing for election and which hole on the voting template should be used if you want to mark a cross on the ballot paper. After voting, the voting template should be destroyed so that no conclusions can be drawn about voting behavior.