As the capital prepares for the July 2 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, moves to provide voting support for the disabled are spreading. In addition to websites informing visually impaired people about the election, DVDs have been produced to support the intellectually disabled in the voting process. It is hoped such moves will facilitate the process for the approximately 106,000 visually and intellectually disabled people in Tokyo who are of voting age.
On June 22, IT colossus Yahoo Japan Corp. launched a specially designed “Yahoo Japan audible election” website (https://kikoeru.yahoo.co.jp) to support visually impaired voters in Tokyo. On the site, there are four key sections, titled, “Know the candidates,” “Compare manifestos,” “Policy questionnaire results,” and “Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election column.” Each of these sections provides useful audible information powered by special software.
In addition, electoral management committees across the capital have been distributing Braille and CD versions of campaign bulletins to interested applicants. Furthermore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been providing helpful information online about the election for visually impaired people.
Full Article: Voting support offered to disabled for Tokyo Met. Assembly election – The Mainichi.