This question is posed by ACE on behalf of an anonymous user. 

Question

The meaningful inclusion of youth, women, persons with disabilities, and other less-represented groups is increasingly understood as integral to truly democratic elections.  Through innovative programs at election commissions, external assistance, and local CSO involvement, electoral administrators around the world attempt to secure the participation of these groups in the electoral processes. 

Considering a rising awareness of this priority, programs seldom work to address the needs of populations that are marginalized in more than one way:  'doubly marginalized' or 'triply marginalized' (for the purposes of this question, 'multiply marginalized'). 

For example, these groups may include women with disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities, young women with disabilities, etc. 

PN members are therefore requested to share the following from their countries:

1. Are there programs you are aware of that address the inclusion of groups that experience more than one dimension of political/societal exclusion?

2. What strategies exist to more meaningfully engage these groups in elections ?

Summary of Responses

• Quotas within a single national circumscription are seen as a way to ensure the representation of marginalized groups.
• Electoral systems that benefit minorities, when these represent a big portion of the electoral circumscriptions, what forces candidates to take their claims into account.
• In Ecuador several activities have been developed to tackle marginalization. For instance:
• Civic education campaigns in the indigenous languages.
• Assisted and house voting for the disabled population.
• Optional vote for those between 16 and 18 years old.
• Vote for the detainees who have not yet received their sentence.

Additional resources

• http://www.idea.int/publications/international-obligations-for-elections/upload/iof-p1.pdf
• http://bit.ly/1qOkZkp
• http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/ace-workspace/questions/open-questions/190146663/840234974/Strategies-to-include-Multiply-Maginalized-groups.doc

Contributing Members

• Saad Alrawi
• Manuel Wally
• David Hardley Ajwang Onyango
• Stina Larserud
• Susana Dione Ngole Epie
• Víctor Hugo Ajila

أذا كان الناخبين قليلي الثقافة في الانتخابات والاكثرية لا تعترف بالاقلية .. فمن الافضل ان نجعل لهم كوتا او ان نجعل الدولة كلها دائرة انتخابية واحدة كي تتجمع اصواتهم وتكثر مقاعدهم .

If voters were of little culture in the elections and the majority does not recognize minority .. it is better to make them quota or to make the whole country a single electoral constituency in order to gather their voices and their seats abound.

The new IDEA Guidelines on Legal Frameworks for Elections catalog UN treaty obligations and related UN treaty body jurisprudence on state obligations to protect electoral rights of marginalized groups. The Guidelines have identified several precedents of treaty bodies addressing the treatment of multiple marginalization. The Guidelines can be searched and downloaded free of charge here:

http://www.idea.int/publications/international-obligations-for-elections/upload/iof-p1.pdf

Manuel Wally

In  this it depends on the law makers and the practitioners  in one country to another who would emphasize  on vitality of the electoral  roles  therefore have  a look at the below American electoral college roles.

The Framers of our Constitution invented a system that would establish a democracy while protecting minority rights. They created the Electoral College to protect the residents of the smaller states, and they rejected government by simple majority because plebiscites historically have been the tool of dictatorships, not democracy.

To win the presidency, the candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes. To determine how many electoral votes a state has, just take the number of each state’s U.S. Representatives and add two (which represents the number of Senators for each state). Even the residents of the smallest states (or the District of Columbia) have a minimum of three electoral votes.

The Electoral College, in practice, gives a little more electoral power to racial minorities, such as blacks and Hispanics, and thus is important in helping to achieve racial justice. Because these minorities tend to live in the large cities of the bigger states, their votes are important in tilting all the electoral votes of their state, thus encouraging candidates of both parties to appeal for their votes.

The online electoral cycle attempts to gather knowledge resources on this and related topics (i.e. what different actors can do throughout the electoral cycle to improve the electoral process) and allows the user to tailor the content based on his/her interest. This particular link: http://bit.ly/1qOkZkp gives you suggested actions throughout the cycle that focus on participation from a diversity, gender and youth perspective. You can add/remove angles and actors, and click on individual actions to learn more. Some of the actions might be more relevant for single dimensions of marginalization, while others will be applicable to multiply marginalized groups as you put it. The generic link to the online electoral cycle is: ecycle.idea.int

The inclusion of Youths, women, and persons with disabilities in the electoral process, is actually raising awareness and is increasingly gaining grounds in Cameroon.

With the recent population census in Cameroon, many persons with disabilities who have attained the age of voting, were found to constitute a great majority of the population. With a view to give effect to these ideas and make the most of on the recent population census, a lot have been put in place, both by the Government and the lone Election Management Body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

En Ecuador se han considerado algunas variables que inciden en la marginación de la participación política, por ejemplo: mujeres de zona rurales, mujeres indígenas de zona rural, grupos de afrodescendientes; la mayoría de ellos con otros problemas recurrentes como ma pobleza y sin acceso a educación.

Para atacar estos problemas se han desarrollado algunas actividades focalizadas, por ejemplo, la capacitación cívica y electoral en la propia lengua de los pueblos índigenas; voto asistido y voto en casa para las personas con discapacidad o dificultad de trasladarse a los centros de votación; voto facultativo para los jóvenes de 16 y antes de cumplir los 18 años de edad (en Ecuador la mayoría de edad legal son 18 años); el voto de las personas privadas de libertad pero que aún no reciban sentencia. A esto se suma la creación de escuelas de formación en sectores rurales e indígenas con la finalidad de dar a conocer los derechos políticos, el proceso electoral y la importancia de ejercer el sufragio de manera conciente.

El exito es atacar el problema de la exclusión y marginalidad desde diversos ángulos; con acciones variadas. Tener una visión sistémica del problema para entender que no existe una solución única y total, sino que se requiere procesos al menos continuados y evaluación de los resultados.

Otro elemento esencial es la credibilidad de las acciones a implementar y del organismo que las implementa. Los grupos exclusidos tienden a ser desconfiados del sistema, o a veces adoptan una posición de revancha contra los que consideran culpables de su exclusión. Por eso es muy importante que se aplique un enfoque de derechos y consideración a la dignidad humana, horizontalidad de las relaciones y debate de las medidas.

Cualquier información adicional dirigirse a [email protected]

Saludos