Getting voting rights

People have fought and died for it. Governments constantly tell us it’s a right we should exercise. So why is voting so difficult for so many disabled people. Paul Carter investigates

There are few acts of citizenship a person carries out as iconic as casting their vote at an election. The right of suffrage has long been held as one of the most fundamental of human rights, and throughout history people have fought and died to give others the right to have their say at the ballot box. With such political and historical significance framing the issue, it seems unthinkable that there are still people who face exclusion from the democratic process, yet disabled people often face considerable barriers to reaching the ballot box – metaphorically and physically.

With an election widely expected to take place in early May the issue once again takes on a renewed significance, although activists and campaigners have had these issues on their radar for many years.

Disability charity Scope has been running its Polls Apart campaign, which aims to improve disabled people’s access to the democratic process, at every General Election since 1992, and every Welsh Assembly election since 1999.

At the last General Election, Scope’s campaign volunteers surveyed over 2,000 polling stations and found that a staggering 68 per cent had one or more serious access barriers to disabled people, a figure even more striking considering that many polling stations are in municipal buildings, such as schools and community centres.

Lisa Egan told Disability Now of one recent experience of attempting to vote at a polling station in Golders Green, London.

“The polling station was at the infant school just around the corner from my flat. The school had steps to get in and no ramps. Not even portable ones. Having never been to the building before I didn’t know that, and I was given no advance notification (they could put on the registration form ‘your polling station has no wheelchair access so if you can’t walk up steps you need to register for a postal vote’).

“So I got there and was confronted by several steps. I asked for the ramp and was told it didn’t exist. Luckily I can get up a step or two if there’s something to hold on to, and one of the canvassers trying to persuade me to vote for them lifted my chair up the steps. Irony of ironies, once inside they had a lowered polling booth with the wheelchair logo stamped all over it.”

The body responsible for overseeing local authorities in the UK refuses to accept the inaccessibility of polling stations is an issue.

Responding to questions from Disability Now, a spokeswoman for the Local Government Association (LGA) said that it “wouldn’t recognise that there is a problem,” and that the figures from the last General Election could not be relied upon as they were five years old, despite being the latest and most reliable statistics available.

“Where there is an issue,” she said, “it is important that that is raised. Though it [inaccessibility] might just be one or two polling stations, and as we represent local authorities nationally that would be an issue for the individual authorities concerned”.

However, Abigail Lock, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns at Scope, says that the Polls Apart campaign, along with new guidance from other bodies, has the potential to improve the situation for disabled voters this time around.

“Local authorities have now got guidance which comes from the Electoral Commission which Scope has been heavily involved with writing, and now, under the Representation of the People Act, there’s now a duty on local authorities to look at the access of their polling stations and do a review.

“As part of the Polls Apart campaign, we’ve written to every local authority across the United Kingdom and asked them some questions around the access [of polling stations], the results of which we’ll have on an interactive map on a website so people can look at their own local authority and see what they’ve said and then they can come back and say ‘this is our experience and it matches’ or ‘no, it doesn’t’.”

There have been various initiatives launched in recent years to try and increase the numbers of disabled people who vote, such as the introduction of voting by proxy and postal voting.

Anyone aged 18 or over who is on the electoral register in the UK is eligible to apply for a postal vote, without giving a reason (though there are separate rules for voters in Northern Ireland).

However, many disabled people say that postal voting is less than satisfactory for them, as it removes the experience of physically casting a vote at the ballot box.

Lisa agrees. “No, I don’t have a postal vote,” she says. “I’ve never used a postal vote. I wouldn’t want to vote by post, I’d much rather vote in person.”

The Electoral Commission is the independent watchdog that makes sure that everyone who is eligible to vote gets the chance to do so.

Helena Herd, Media Relations Manager for the Electoral Commission, said it has been carrying out extensive work around improving disabled people’s access to democracy, and at the forthcoming election, all returning officers will be sent guidelines on accessibility and disability equality, the compliance of which will be measured against new performance standards that will subsequently be published.

She said that the Commission was presenting as many ways as possible to enable disabled people to have the opportunity to vote, and that physical access is not always the sole issue.

Indeed, many disabled people often face barriers wider than those relating solely to accessing a polling station, with many often feeling disenfranchised or socially excluded from the process in general.

Abigail Lock says that this can often be down to politicians mistakenly believing that disabled people are only interested in disability issues, rather than active members of society concerned with a variety of issues such as transport, health and crime.

“In the run up to the election it’s quite likely that you’re going to get a politician give you a call or knock on your door, so we’ve launched a manifesto of issues that we think they should include, but I think one of the problems is, if disabled people have historically had problems getting to polling stations or being able to vote, they don’t feel empowered to have those conversations. So we’re trying to build a movement around that and encourage people to have the confidence.”

The situation for people with learning difficulties or mental health problems can be even more complex –the system can feel intimidating, while a traditional lack of engagement from politicians can leave people feeling that their vote is not valued.

Lucy, who has learning difficulties said she thinks it is important for people to engage with the political process.

She said: “Even people without disabilities find it hard to understand politics. They [politicians] just speak jargon and don’t get to the point. When they make political broadcasts they don’t use clear language that we can understand. They don’t involve us. If people with disabilities all vote, we will be heard. The more we get our voices heard the more people will respect us.”

In response to this issue, United Response, a charity which supports people with learning difficulties and mental health needs, launched an initiative to improve engagement.

This has revealed that as few as 16 per cent of people with learning difficulties are exercising their right to vote, while at least half a million people with learning disabilities in England who have capacity to vote are not voting – more than half of all people with learning disabilities.

Su Sayer, United Response founder and chief executive, says: “People with learning disabilities are affected by decisions made at a national and local level in the same way as everyone else. Yet information about the democratic process is often presented in a way which is confusing and full of jargon. As a result, many people who would like to vote currently find themselves excluded.”

Due to the nature of elections, and the logistics behind it, it will likely be several months after the election before it becomes clear whether the situation has improved.

However, through engaging with issues such as Scope’s Polls Apart campaign, and by working with local Disabled People’s Organisations, it will be possible for disenfranchised disabled people to have a voice.

• For more information or to get involved in the Polls Apart campaign, visit www.timetogetequal.org.uk/vote