During a debate with the Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday 5 July, several members of the European Parliament shared their concerns as to the problems facing people with disabilities in accessing polling stations in the member states, with the European elections of 2019 looming large.
For instance, Helga Stevens (ECR, Belgium) pointed out that only 12 of the 28 member states have accessibility requirements covering elections. She added that most of the requirements concern only physical access. She also referred to the limited amount of information given to disabled people and stressed that the matter was not limited to polling day, but also the entire election campaign. “In a democratic society, everyone must have the right to make an informed choice”, she said. However, this MEP, who is deaf and without speech, considers that the real problem lies not so much in the regulatory framework as in its implementation.
Soledad Cabezón Ruiz (S&D, Spain) reiterated the obligation of the member states to respect the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, article 12 of which sets out an obligation to recognise the legal personality of people with disabilities in all places and all fields, and article 29 of which governs participation in public and political life.
Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) suggested solutions to improve the turnout of people with disabilities in the European elections: - improving accessibility to polling stations (lifts and escorts, if necessary); - translating all political manifestos into Braille; - putting the political manifestos into simple language or even pictograms for individuals suffering from cognitive deficiencies; - systematically ensuring sign language translation of speeches for the hard of hearing. Other MEPs stressed the need to make complaints mechanisms easier.
Commissioner Jourova agreed with the MEPs, but stressed that the holding of elections is a matter for national competences, as is the implementation of the UN Convention, meaning that the Commission is limited to an accompaniment role. However, the Commissioner stressed that she was working on a post-2020 strategy on the question of access for people with disabilities to elections and political life. In April, Jourova said that she had met the election commissioners of the various member states for an exchange of best practice and to discuss this very subject, amongst others. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)