Freephone numbers have been set up to assist visually impaired voters in the upcoming local elections on June 7.
Voters can use the dedicated service to hear the details of the candidates running in their local electoral area for the June 7 Election. The order of candidates will be as they appear on the ballot paper.
Waterford City and County Council are advising that each individual candidate has a corresponding number assigned which will be on the Ballot Paper Template (BPT) available at the voter’s polling station.
Voters who may be visually impaired are advised to ask the presiding officer to attach a template to their ballot paper so that they can vote in secret on June 7 and ensure their preference is accurately recorded.
Raised numbering and Braille on the template guide the voter to the relevant candidate location on the ballot paper. It is removed once the ballot paper has been marked and the ballot paper is placed in the ballot box, entirely indistinguishable from all the other marked ballot papers.
Vision impaired voters will also continue to have the option of marking their ballot papers with the assistance of a companion or Presiding Officer at the polling station.
The freephone number is 051 849 670 and is available until the close of polls at 10pm on Friday, June 7.
LIMERICK
While in Limerick, a Freephone number (1800 83 20 73) is now available for members of the public, particularly visually impaired voters, to familiarise themselves with the candidates running in the Limerick Local Elections 2024 and in the Limerick Mayoral Election 2024.
Again, this Freephone number works in conjunction with a Local Elections Ballot Paper Template and a Limerick Mayoral Election Ballot Paper Template that will be available at all polling stations on polling day.
The Freephone number 1800 83 20 73 will be available up to close of polls, i.e. 10pm on Friday, 7th June.
