The Cabinet have released their response to the Call for Evidence : Access to Elections, in August 2018.
The response includes actions to be taken forward, produced in partnership with the Government-chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group which includes representatives from organisations acting on behalf of disabled people and from bodies which oversee and conduct elections and referendums.
On 5 September 2017, the Cabinet Office launched a Call for Evidence, asking for views on how disabled people experience registering to vote and voting to:
- Enhance the Government’s understanding of the experiences of disabled people in registering to vote and casting their vote
- Help identify if current mechanisms to support disabled people to participate in the democratic process are sufficient; and
- Identify examples of good practice provided by Electoral Service Teams to
disabled people at elections.
The Government identified the following actions to improve the accessibility of future elections from the received evidence to the Call for Evidence.
- Action 1: Returning Officers should ensure effective training of polling station staff and the use of checklists developed in conjunction with national and / or local disabled persons groups to identify issues from the viewpoint of disabled people
- Action 3: The Accessibility Working Group to consider, in the first instance, what outreach services could be provided to support individuals and residents of care homes to participate in elections
- Action 11: The Accessibility Working Group should engage with political parties to discuss how information on parties, candidates and their policies can be made more readily available to disabled people.
