[LINK] Blind voter loses electoral challenge

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/08/3005771.htm

> Blind voter loses electoral challenge
> A blind man who claimed discrimination because he could not cast a  
> secret ballot has lost his court case.
>
> David Rankin took the Electoral Office to the Equal Opportunity  
> Tribunal in South Australia, claiming his only option was to ask  
> someone else to fill out his ballot paper.
>
> He wanted to vote using a computer or braille.
>
> The Electoral Office denied any discrimination and claimed the  
> alternatives suggested would be too expensive and would require  
> legislative changes.
>
> The tribunal ruled Mr Rankin's claim was legally flawed because it  
> related to a policy rather than specific events.
>
> Acknowledging its recommendations carried no weight, the tribunal  
> said the laws were unsatisfactory and should be changed,  
> particularly in light of progress by other states and countries to  
> provide secret ballots for people with disabilities.
>
> Mr Rankin had challenged the voting system for SA elections, while  
> at the recent federal election blind people were able to vote   
> confidentially over the telephone to an electoral officer for the  
> first time.
>


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Kim Holburn
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