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Scottish Disability Equality Forum along with thistle logo in purple and green

25/08/05 - Poll Position Slips in Scotland

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Accessibility in Scottish polling stations took a downward turn in May's general election. Despite a recent push to include disabled people in the electoral process, research by Capability Scotland, published in August, shows voting this year was less accessible than in the 2003 Scottish elections.

Twenty four per cent of people who took part in Polls Apart 4 Scotland survey reported major access problems at polling stations, compared with 17 per cent two years before.

The survey found more than half lacked disabled parking spaces and more than one third of stations had no large print ballot paper. There was poor guidance for postal voters in at least a third of cases.

Capability Scotland's media manager, Julie Laird, said: "We're disappointed that instead of the 2005 general election being the most accessible ever, Scotland has taken a step back with some old problems starting to creep back in again. The challenge now is to identify the problems and find ways to solve them."

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said: "We are aware that in practice there is not always a lot of choice in more remote regions and access issues need to be balanced against closing down a large number of polling stations, which could deprive electors of a convenient local polling station.

"We recognise there is still work to be done and we will continue to work with electoral administrators to increase the ways in which access to polling stations can be improved."

She also said local authorities are responsible for polling station accessibility. But Danny Alexander (left), Liberal Democrat spokesperson on disability and an MP in Scotland, said: "The voting process is overseen by the local authorities and councils, but the electoral commission has overall responsibility. I hope that the electoral commission will consider this report carefully and make changes accordingly."

He added: "I'm very concerned if there are issues around disabled voters taking part in the democratic process. It needs to be made as easy as possible for everyone to vote."

Reported in Disability Now September 2005 Issue

 

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