Before I share my experience for this GE2020, I am ever so grateful to Tech Able, both Ivan and his team and Alvin and his team. They found a communications method which is so simple that even an eight-year-old can easily do. By connecting a bluetooth keyboard to my Iphone where the output is displayed on my BrailleSense Polaris (affectionately called Bear Bear by me), anyone can type their message to me.
Initially, I had wanted to abstain or even Void my vote! I was not sure about the voting process and how the polling station might provide me with some accommodations as a Deafblind voter. I thus tried to find out about how to disqualify myself and I am not shy about admitting it. However, everyone encouraged me to participate in the voting process and even my trainer offered to be my chaperone if I were to need a guide to assist me on that day. Thankfully, my colleague, Alvin, wrote to the Elections Department (ELD) and we were assured that I would be assisted! I had my initial doubts because the website to check my assigned polling station was inaccessible to me when it was first launched. I could not solve the CAPTCHA to verify I was not a robot (and some of my friends with sight were defeated by CAPTCHA too!). Later, they improved the website and I was able to access the details using my SingPass.
On polling day, I followed my Aunt to her allotted voting time. It was truly a pleasant experience with detailed and clear instructions being conveyed to me.
Apparently, the 10am-12pm slot, with us being there at about perhaps 11.30am saw a crowd. There was a long queue yet we had a fuss-free process!
At the counter, my Aunt requested for priority registration for me. She also reminded the staff about temperature-screening as they had almost forgotten about it with the non-stop comings and goings from voters.
We then waited and an elections officer by the name of Khadijah came by and assisted us all the way. My Aunt told Khadijah to use the keyboard so throughout the process, there were clear narration about what we were doing. Khadijah is probably in her late twenties or early thirties. She was just so helpful and very patient with us! At the registration counter, "scanning of IC", "sanitising of hands", "wearing of disposable gloves" (which Khadijah assisted) appeared on Bear Bear. I was issued with the stencil where Khadijah helped to insert the ballot paper. We then headed over to the polling booth. Khadijah let me feel the cutout boxes, telling me which box belonged to which party. The self-inking pen was then passed to me. Guarantee plus chop! I had to stamp three times because Khadijah kept typing “Again” and “Again”! Finally she guided my hand and together, we managed to stamp on my choice! Yay! We then headed over to the ballot box where we took a while because the paper refused to go inside!
Lastly, she helped me remove the gloves which were already sticking to my hands from perspiration and we went off.
With officers like Khadijah, I feel so relieved and all my earlier worries were unfounded. To be truly inclusive and to reinforce every vote counts, ELD really made an effort in providing accommodations for the disabled such as having stencils for blind voters, lap polling booths for those on wheelchairs and having convenient and accessible dropoff points.
I am glad my vote counts!
Tan Siew Ling is fully Deafblind, having lost both her sight and hearing to a neurological condition, Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). She carries a screen reader with a Braille display, which she fondly names it as “Bear Bear”, everywhere she goes. Her humour, wordplay, and love of puns keep friends on their toes. She enjoys reading books in her free time and loves to pen down her thoughts, often on a whim, which can be entertaining at times, on her social media. When she is not writing or reading, she can be seen doing insanely 72kg leg presses or swinging a 20kg kettlebell to and fro. You can find out more about Siew Ling and her journey here.