Voting Procedures for Persons with Disabilities in Jordan

Updated: January 2016

Created by Jordan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) and supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for parliamentary elections held in 2013, this public service announcement provides instructions for each step of the voting process and rules on who may be an assistant (if one is requested). Sign language interpretation, animation and on-screen text are used increase accessibility for Jordanians with disabilities.

 

Transcript

 

(Narrator is speaking in Arabic)

Narrator: The polling stations open doors to voters at 7:00 a.m. Priority is given to persons with disabilities. In order to vote, you have to show a personal ID and voter card. You have the right to have someone of your choice accompany you as long as the assistant is over 18 years old in order to support you in the voting process.

A volunteer will guide you to the ballot box [room] number that you will vote in. You will enter the ballot room with your assistant and present the voter card to the polling station staff who will do the following: Verify identification and that the citizen ID and voter card match. Verify that there is no ink on your hands. Your name and national number will also be verified in the printed voter registry. Also, the assistant’s identity will be verified through personal ID. The assistant must ensure that there is no ink on his left hand, and his name will be recorded in a special registry.

The polling station staff will mark your name on the log, and will record your name in the printed voter registry. It will also be marked in the electronic log that you exercised your right to vote. The head of the polling station will stamp the two ballot papers and sign them and will hand them over to you if that is possible or to the assistant if you are not able to hold them. You will walk over to the voting booth where your assistant will write down the name of one candidate only, or mark next to his picture on the ballot paper for the governorate district. The assistant marks the name and number and symbol of only one list on the national district ballot paper.

You or the assistant folds the ballot papers separately while remaining in the polling booth so that your chosen candidates and lists are not seen. The voter and their assistant head to the voting boxes and place all ballot papers into the designated box. The voter places their left index finger in the designated ink and the assistant places their left pinky finger into the same ink.

The Polling and Counting Committee head returns your voter ID card to you and your assistant. The Polling and Counting Committee head retains your electoral card after cutting the lower left corner. Voting assistants don’t have the right to assist more than one disabled voter.

 

-- End of transcript --