Promoting the rights of the disabled may not be on the forefront of candidates’ campaign platforms running in the 101 regional elections across Indonesia slated for Feb. 15.

But the General Elections Commission (KPU) has promised they will provide all the necessary facilities to ensure that people with disabilities as well as the elderly have equal opportunity to vote in person.

KPU commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah said on Monday the commission would ensure all polling stations in the 101 regions could be accessed by the disabled.

For example, he said, the flooring and the entrance of polling stations must be of a design that was accessible by wheelchair.

“We have told regional KPU offices to pay attention to voters with wheelchairs when it comes to choosing a polling station location. A polling station should not have stairs,” Ferry told The Jakarta Post.

Latest data showed that as many as 50,063 people with disabilities had registered for the simultaneous elections. As many as 5,371 of them are in Jakarta.

Most of the disabled voters are limb-impaired, which makes up almost 40 percent of total disabled voters.

Feryy added that the KPU had also provided a special template for visually impaired voters.

Each polling station would have at least one template in braille to help blind voters vote, he said.

Ferry said the KPU had also provided each Polling Station Working Committee (KPPS) with training on how to give assistance to voters with disabilities.

Should there be disabled voters unable to come to a polling station because of their conditions, polling station officials could come to their homes to help them cast their ballots. However, this could only be done in the afternoon when all the main activities of a polling station had finished, he said.

As instructed by the KPU, local election organizers have also begun to prepare facilities for the disabled.

In West Sulawesi, for instance, as many as 900 disabled voters are set to vote in the province’s gubernatorial election.

KPU West Sulawesi head Adi Arwan said the commission were ready to serve them.

“We didn’t prepare any special facilities for disabled voters. However, we have made guidelines that polling stations cannot be placed on hills, uneven roads or near bridges. A polling station should be accessible to all,” Adi said.

Adi added that all 2,756 polling stations in the province had each been equipped with a braille template.

Meanwhile, KPU West Kalimantan has said it is ready to provide facilities to help disabled people cast ballots in the election of regional heads in Landak regency and the city of Singkawang.

In Landak, 869 out of 253,579 registered voters on the voters list are disabled. It is estimated that 170 of these are blind or visually impaired.

Facilities for disabled voters will be provided at all 1,006 polling stations, which will be set up in 13 districts across the regency.

In Singkawang, 39 out of 214 disabled voters are blind or visually impaired. There will be 405 polling stations set up in five districts across the city, which will provide special assistance for them.

In Tebo regency, Jambi, 360 voters are visually impaired. Facilities for them will be provided at 669 polling stations.

KPU Sarolangun, also in Jambi, meanwhile, has 147 disabled registered voters. Special facilities for them will be provided in 586 polling stations.

Meanwhile, KPU East Flores in East Nusa Tenggara said they would prepare special facilities for disabled voters even though no disabled voters had been registered yet in the regency.

“According to registered voters data, there is no disabled voter in East Flores. However, the election organizer will still provide special attention to any disabled person voting on election day,” KPU East Flores head Ernesta Katana said.

Ernesta added that the disabled would be assisted by polling station officials in voting.

— Severianus Endi and Markus Makur contributed to the story from Pontianak, West Kalimantan and Flores, East Nusa Tenggara