CHENNAI: Response to the Braille signage system, introduced on an experimental basis in two constituencies in Chennai during the State Assembly elections held on Monday, seemed to be lukewarm with visually impaired voters preferring to cast the ballot with the assistance of an attendant.

Enquiries with the election staff at some polling stations in Park Town and Radhakrishnan Nagar, the two constituencies, revealed that the sheets were not used.

"This is what we have been given, but it is yet to be used," said a staff at a booth in New Washermanpet taking out the Braille sheets from a large brown envelope.

Not far away at Rettai Kozhi Street, inmates of a hostel for the visually impaired complained that their names had been deleted from the electoral list.

Two of them said 26 voters figured in the list earlier and many had voted in previous elections.

Political party workers in the neighbourhood said the inmates were away when the roll verification was carried out.

At a booth in Choolai under the Park Town constituency, a staff said one visually challenged person voted, but with the assistance of an attendant.

The story was the same at some other booths too, with polling agents at a few saying that according to their list there were no visually challenged voters in many localities.

While announcing the decision to introduce the Braille system, Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta said the two constituencies were selected based on a direction from the Election Commission.

Notwithstanding the system, to help such voters identify the serial number and names of the contesting candidates and political parties (or independents), the visually impaired were allowed to bring an attendant along with them to help them vote.

The response to the Braille signage system, however, will not come as a surprise to the authorities, as a senior official connected to the election process recently said that response to a similar system tried in Mumbai sometime ago was not encouraging.

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