T.N. polls: Accessible elections remain out of reach for persons with disabilities

While ramps and wheelchairs have been provided, full access to voting has still not been achieved for the disabled community in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections held on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

Wheelchair user A. Prabakaran hoped to vote independently, at least this time. “We had several meetings with election officials, asking them to arrange accessible voting for us and stating the same thing: Let’s cast our own vote. They said absolutely yes,” he said. But this was not the case. The EVM was placed out of his reach and he had to call someone else to vote. “It is very disappointing that I had to give up my privacy and independence to vote,” he added.