'One of the most fundamental--and sacred--challenges that election officials must overcome in the discharge of their professional duties is making the electoral process open and accessible to all.'9
In making this statement in an edition of Elections Today that focused on special voting
needs, Richard Soudriette, president of IFES, was emphasising one of the ethical principles
referred to in Guiding Principles, namely that election administration must be designed to serve the voters.10
That edition of Elections Today contains a number of articles that review the arguments
and implications of access to the electoral process.11 Voters' needs will vary from country to
country and from area to area. Participation in the democratic process is a fundamental right
that should be accessible to all and accessible to all on terms that are as equal as possible.
Many people with disabilities do not wish to have special arrangements made for them to vote,
such as absentee or early voting procedures. They wish to gain access to the buildings that able-bodied people have access to, on the same day and during the same hours. To achieve this, it
will be necessary for the election manager to plan for such access in making arrangements for
the approval of the siting of voting stations. The requirements of wheelchair users should be
considered. Questions such as door width, steps at the access to the door, and the style of booth
in which the voter is required to vote need to be considered.
Blind voters may require information in large print or Braille or the use of innovative ideas in
the design of paper ballots, as in Canada (Template for Blind Voters - Elections Canada). They may also be assisted by the
production of audio cassette information tapes that explain the process to them. This is
especially important in some countries where war and diseases have resulted in disabilities and
blindness among large numbers of the population.
There is likely to be a cost in making these arrangements, but it is a cost that should be regarded
as integral to the electoral process. Many issues may even be resolved at minimal or no cost.
Changing from one building that has traditionally been used for elections and is not accessible to
another nearby that is accessible may not involve additional cost other than ensuring that
electors are made aware of the changes.
The election manager should establish a mechanism for maintaining a dialogue with
representatives of disabled groups to ensure that they are aware of developments in each area.
Many good, low-cost ideas are likely to evolve from discussions with members of the groups
concerned. In the U.K., where paper ballots are used, legislation provides for a blind voter to be
assisted by a companion or by the presiding officer. One blind voter felt that she was, by asking
someone else for assistance, being deprived of the right to a secret ballot. As she was totally
blind, a large print ballot paper was of no assistance, and she could not read Braille. (A sample
of the U.K. ballot paper is available at Ballot Papers - United Kingdom.) The voter came up with a solution that was
satisfactory to her at no cost. The ballot paper is divided by horizontal and vertical lines. The
voter suggested that the presiding officer fold the ballot paper along the horizontal lines that
separate the candidates and then along the vertical line that created the box against which the
mark for the candidate was placed. The folds had to be made in such a way that the raised
crease was on the front of the ballot paper. The presiding officer would inform the voter of the
layout of the candidates and instructions on the ballot paper. The voter was then able to mark
the paper in the voting booth unaided. This system for voting by blind people was used at the
general election in 1997 and is expected to be used more widely at upcoming elections. It costs
nothing because there are no aids or adaptations needed, but it makes the electoral process
accessible to blind people on the same terms as other voters and most importantly maintains the
secrecy of the vote.
The election manager must keep all polling arrangements under review including issues relating
to access. Surveys should be undertaken of all polling places to determine accessibility. The
state of Maryland in the U.S. conducts such surveys and uses detailed survey forms
('emx_c009'). A summary of the results of a survey of the accessibility of polling places in the
U.K. carried out by the organisation SCOPE is included in the special edition of Elections
Today and includes a disability manifesto.
The elderly are a large, and in many countries increasingly large, proportion of the electorate. It
is important that their needs be considered in making electoral arrangements. Voting by mail
may be appropriate, but also consideration should be given to the use of mobile voting stations
that can visit homes for the elderly for those people who have regularly been able to vote
personally rather than by mail.
In all discussions about access, consideration should also be given to the accessibility of all
voters to the literature related to the electoral process. The election manager should seek to
avoid jargon and language that is arcane or overly complicated. The Plain English Campaign in
the U.K. is an organisation whose aim is to take such language out of official documents. The
election manager should also recognise that in countries with a number of dialects it will be
necessary to provide notices, and other communiques, in local dialects to ensure that the
information is accessible to all potential voters.
