Participation in Political and Public Life

According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD):

States shall guarantee the right of persons with disabilities:

1. To vote in elections on a non-discriminatory basis by ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use;
2. To access an effective, impartial, and non-discriminatory procedure for the registration of voters;
3. To cast their ballot in secret;
4. To have assistance in order to exercise their right to vote or to stand for election as a candidate for public office;
5. To participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including:
   1. Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties;
   2. Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels.

Examples of Barriers to Participation in Decision-Making

1. Attitudes about the value of inclusion of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes;
2. Lack of accessible information about public meetings and consultations, political parties, and voting and registration;
3. Lack of transportation to public meetings, registration, and polling stations;
4. Physical barriers to public buildings, including courts, voting registration centres, and polling stations;
5. Polling stations in rooms too small to accommodate persons using wheelchairs and voting boxes placed on high tables;
6. Lack of accessible information on voting procedures for voters with sensory disabilities;
7. Poorly trained election workers;
8. Hostility towards and/or exclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities and intellectual disabilities in decision-making processes;
9. Lack of alternative voting devices or accessible voting methods for persons with sensory disabilities; and
10. Lack of mobile voting mechanisms for persons who cannot leave their homes or who are currently residing in hospitals/institutions.

Examples of Removing Barriers to Participation in Decision-Making

1. Development of Tactile Ballot Guides for voters who are blind, allowing their votes to be cast independently and in secret;
2. Training of election officials on accessibility;
3. Ensuring that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are included in voter education campaigns as participants and as educators;
4. Providing closed captions and sign language interpreters on televised voter information announcements;
5. Ensuring that voters with disabilities have information on their right to have assistance in casting their vote, including by a person of their own choosing;
6. Providing voter education and information in accessible formats (for example, large print, electronic format for voters that use screen-reading technology, written material, and easy-to-understand language for persons with intellectual disabilities);
7. Examples of measures to enhance participation in political life and decision-making by persons with disabilities:
   1. In the 2005 Liberian elections, the National Elections Commission, together with the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), printed Tactile Ballot Guides to enable voters who are blind to mark their ballot independently, thereby preserving their rights to vote in secret. Election officials were trained on the use of this guide so that they could assist voters wishing to use them.
   2. In Canada following the election of a person with a disability to the House of Commons, modifications were made to Standing Orders of the House to “permit the full participation in the proceedings of the House of any Member with a disability.” This allows the Speaker to exempt such a member from the requirement to stand for debate and voting. Members of Parliament with disabilities are now allowed to be accompanied by an assistant on the floor of the House.