If people have accessibility issues, be that with mobility or sight, you might be wondering how they’ll be assisted at polling stations on election day and whether the local authority will be ensuring they can vote independently and in secret.
Local authorities have to ensure that people with accessibility issues are able to use polling stations and Isle of Wight council has told News OnTheWight they believe they are doing all they can to ensure residents with accessibility issues take part in elections. Others disagree.
A differing story
Based on their own experiences and those of other Islanders, both the CEO and a Trustee from Sight for Wight – the local independent charity dedicated to providing information and support to visually impaired Islanders – tell a different story.
Lisa Hollyhead, CEO for Sight for Wight, told News OnTheWight,
“Every year we get people coming to us with problems with voting from the very outset of not being able to read the Council instructions, to problems on the day of voting in reading and completing the ballot papers.
“We are of course always here to help but on the Polling Day people are left entirely to fend for themselves.
“We can offer eight different accessible ways of giving people information including our Hello Everyone Audible QR codes which read out any written word at the touch of a button.
“We really hope feedback given in previous years will have improved things this year.”
Problems for blind and partially-sighted voters
According to a report from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB),
“Just one in ten blind or partially sighted people said the current system let them vote independently and in secret.”
Following successful campaigning by the RNIB, there was a major change in how blind and partially sighted people could vote in the General Election in 2019. They had campaigned for tools, such as magnifiers and mobile phones, to be used in polling stations as ‘reasonable adjustments’ under the Equality Act.
Types of assistance at IW polling stations
Here on the Isle of Wight the council confirms that all polling station staff are aware of the types of assistance that must be made available.
All polling stations have very recently been assessed for both Covid and access arrangements, and a range of temporary ramps / threshold ramps have been put in place where necessary.
Pocket devices now allowed
Any elector in a polling station who requires to do so, may now use a mobile telephone or a special device to convert text to speech. Devices such as a pocket-sized video magnifiers can also be used to further enlarge text. Magnifying sheets will be available.
Large print ballot forms (for inspection purposes only) will be available, as well as Tactile Voting Devices (TVDs). These are sheets that are placed over your ballot paper with a sticky attachment at the top and lift up flaps down the right hand side for the voter to lift and mark their vote.
Tactile Voting Devices
However, in the past voters have experienced problems with TVDs – they can slip and the voter can end up not marking the ballot paper properly (see Salim Patel’s great video), thereby spoiling their ballot paper and their vote not being counted.
In 2019, there was a legal challenge by a blind voter about TVDs. RNIB supported the case and the judge ruled that the TVD was a ‘parody of the electoral process’ because it involves needing support from another person (so that the vote is no longer private).
As a result of that case, RNIB has been working with the Cabinet Office to trial accessible voting options in polling stations. A pilot of a new audio device (which can be used independently alongside the TVD) is set to take part in Norfolk in tomorrow’s election.
Hollingshead: Vote was returned two months later
Hopefully this year, Ruth Hollingshead, a guide dog user and Trustee of Sight for Wight will find an improvement. Her experience in the past has been less than satisfactory. She told News OnTheWight,
“I have experience of voting both by post and in person and neither have actually ever worked out for me. By post my vote was returned two months later with ‘Does not match signature held from 2008’ and in person I was not allowed to take my accessible technology into the booth with me making it impossible for me to read the ballot paper.
“The solutions are there, allow people to use their usual method of reading and writing which will involve accessible technology, large print, templates and braille. It really is that simple.”
RNIB: Everyone should have the right to cast their vote confidently and privately
Michael Wordingham, Policy and Campaigns Officer at RNIB, told News OnTheWight,
“We hear many stories every election from blind and partially sighted people who have needed assistance to vote, and have had their vote commented on by electoral staff or not been 100 per cent sure that their preference has been recorded correctly. In fact, just one in ten blind people told us that they were able to vote independently and in secret in 2019’s election.
“Not being able to exercise the fundamental human right to vote with any degree of privacy undermines the entire voting process. Although there has been some recent progress made, it is incredible to think that many blind and partially sighted people are still not able to vote in secret. Everyone should have the right to cast their vote confidently and privately – blind and partially sighted people should be no different.”
Need more?
The extent of the information provided on the IWC Website is fairly limited, so if you need further detail, you’ll have to contact Electoral Services by calling 01983 823380 or by logging into the IWC Website and sending a message via the contact page.
Emergency proxy vote
If you haven’t already elected for a postal vote, it’s too late now, but there is an option of organising an emergency proxy vote if you can’t make it to the polling station tomorrow.
Despite what it says on the IWC Website, if you know you won’t be able to get to the polling station on Thursday, up until 5pm on election day you can organise for someone to vote on your behalf that day.
Find out more
Full details of the requirements for those with sight loss can be found on the RNIB Website. For more information on their Turned Out 2019 report, see the Website.
Below are the rights of all voters with a disability:
Our thanks to Tracy Mikich (LibDem candidate for Ryde South East) for bringing this to our attention so we could share with readers. Tracy told us that whilst leafleting in Ryde she has heard concerns from several residents about accessibility issues on polling day.
