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Search For Viewable PDFs Now Popular searches for View Document PDF Yahoo Open The State is committed to protect the visually impaired through positive actions that allow the exercise of their fundamental right to vote. However the The activity of voting through traditional voter cards requires the use of sight, it is consequential, that this mechanism of participation is adapted to the visual limitation of this population, so that they can exercise their right to vote, not only in accordance with the requirements of art. 258 Superior, but also on equal terms with other voters. RIGHT TO POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF BLIND-Expedition of Electoral cards in Braille/RIGHT TO REAL EQUALITY AND EFFECTIVE BLIND-Issuance of electoral cards in Braille/LAW system TO THE VOTE OF THE BLIND-Issuance of electoral cards in Braille system So that the conditioning of the mechanism of political participation really implies the achievement of a real and effective equality, the adaptation must take into account the ability of some blind people to read a text that is Printed in high relief. The Registry cannot ignore that the capacity of a blind person to understand the Braille system has a particular impact on his way of exercising the vote, because understanding the information that is found written in high relief allows you to mark on the voter card your political decision, without extraneous and undue interference in the light of the Constitution. Which means that if the Registry provides the electoral cards in accordance with his condition and his training, this blind man can exercise their right to vote on equal terms with others voters. The conditioning of the electoral card to aloud printing relief is, therefore, a necessary consequence of the constitutional decision to promote real equality, recognising the autonomy and integration that some visually impaired have acquired thanks to their training in Braille, whose primary effect in this case is that it allows them to exercise their right to exercise their right to exercise their fundamental to vote autonomously and in secret, just like the seers. Search For Viewable PDFs Now Popular searches for View Document PDF Yahoo Open RIGHT TO EQUALITY – Different treatment of blind persons for exercising their right to vote NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CIVIL STATUS-Adoption of measures conducive to achieving The political participation of the blind NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CIVIL STATUS - Issuance of electoral cards in Braille system PRINCIPLE OF LEGITIMATE EXPECTATIONS – Scope/PRINCIPLE OF TRUST LEGITIMATE-Limits to the administration to modify or revoke the measures that implements The Theory of legitimate expectations protects the favourable expectations you have the administered against the stability of administrative actions and the progress in the protection of fundamental rights. To this extent, the protection of the trust aroused implies the imposition of a limit on the powers that the Administration has to modify and revoke the measures that implements. Although these contain a reservation to be reformed, this does not results in an authorization to reduce or regress in the progress that is made has achieved in the protection of fundamental rights. The use of this reservation of modification must obey the fulfillment of superior interests, advancing in the defense and safeguarding of rights; otherwise, a reform that reduces the protection that the State has developed and guaranteed, constitutes a violation of the trust generated by those who had seen each other. favored with the suppressed action. Obviously, the above is valid as long as the economic circumstances of the State and the cost of the benefits allow it.

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Sentencia T-487/03

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the failure of the Registraduría to provide Braille electoral ballots to visually impaired voters violated their fundamental rights to political participation (Article 40 of the Constitution), equality (Article 13), and human dignity (Article 1) — and whether the provision of Braille ballots is a constitutionally mandated necessary consequence of the state's obligation to promote real and effective equality (igualdad real) for persons with disabilities.

Alleged Acts: Carlos Parra Dussan, a visually impaired Colombian citizen, filed an acción de tutela (writ of constitutional protection) against the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (National Civil Registry), the government entity responsible for administering elections in Colombia. Parra Dussan challenged the absence of Braille electoral ballots, which prevented him and other visually impaired citizens from exercising their right to vote autonomously and in secret. Without Braille ballots, blind voters were forced to rely on a companion to mark their ballot for them, compromising the confidentiality and independence of their vote. The plaintiff argued that this situation violated his fundamental rights to political participation, equality, and human dignity. This was the second time the Constitutional Court addressed the issue of Braille voting — the first being Sentencia T-473/03, which was shortly followed by T-487/03 as a reiteration and reinforcement of the same principles.

Procedural history: Parra Dussan filed the tutela directly against the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, seeking protection of his fundamental rights to vote autonomously and in secret.

Summary: Sentencia T-487/03 is a landmark Colombian Constitutional Court decision that established Braille electoral ballots as a constitutionally mandated measure to ensure that visually impaired citizens can exercise their fundamental right to vote autonomously and in secret. The Court held that the absence of Braille ballots violated the rights to political participation (Article 40), equality (Article 13), and human dignity (Article 1) of blind voters. The ruling was brought by Carlos Parra Dussan, a blind activist who later became president of the National Institute for the Blind (INCI), and it served as a reiteration and strengthening of the Court's earlier ruling in T-473/03. The decision ordered the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil to implement Braille voting cards and to allow persons with disabilities to be accompanied by a trusted person in the voting booth. This ruling was historically significant because it paved the way for the first use of Braille ballots in a Colombian presidential election, fulfilling a decades-long struggle by disability rights advocates to make the electoral process fully accessible.

Conclusion: The Constitutional Court granted the tutela (granted constitutional protection) and reaffirmed that Braille electoral ballots are a necessary consequence of the constitutional obligation to promote real equality for persons with visual disabilities. The Court ordered the Registraduría to ensure the availability of Braille electoral cards. The Court held that providing Braille ballots is not a mere discretionary accommodation but a constitutional obligation flowing from the state's duty under Article 13 to promote real and effective equality. The Court emphasized that a blind person's ability to understand and use the Braille system directly affects their ability to exercise their vote without undue interference ("sin injerencias extrañas e indebidas a la luz de la Constitución"). The inability to vote without a companion reading the ballot for them compromised both the autonomy and the secrecy of the vote — two essential elements of democratic participation. The Court also reaffirmed the right of persons with disabilities to enter the voting booth accompanied by a trusted person of their choice, as a complementary measure to ensure accessibility.

Legal Issue(s)

Accessibility
Voters' Rights

Applicable Law(s): Colombian Constitution, Acto Legislativo No. 2 of 2003, and Law 361 of 1997.

Region: Americas

Country: Colombia

Language of Decision

Spanish

Court: Constitutional Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Jun 11, 2003

Geolocation

Latitude: 4.599

Longitude: -74.0755

: Geolocation

Link: https://juristeca.com/co/corte-constitucional-de-colombia/sentencias-y-autos/2003/6/sentencia-t-487-03

Primary Documents

Sentencia T48703.pdf
English
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Sentencia T-487/03

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