Latest Research Predicts High Turnout Amongst Disabled Voters But Low Satisfaction With Government
The latest research from Capability Scotland’s 1 in 4 Poll on voting intentions suggests that over 90% of disabled Scots and their carers are set to vote in the Scottish elections on May 3rd 2007 – bucking the predicted low turnout for the electorate as a whole.
However 28% of respondents are unsure of how they will vote with 82% commenting that the last four years of devolved government had left them worse off, or no better off, than previously.
This 1 in 4 poll survey shows that the voting trends of disabled people and their carers are broadly similar to those of the general population, with the SNP in the lead on 26% of the constituency vote. It is clear that disabled people are just as concerned as everyone else with health, crime and community care ranked as the top three areas of concern.
Commenting on the results Abi Bremner, Campaigns, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Manager said: “Our research continues to suggest that disabled people and their carers are highly motivated to turn out and vote. With 94% of those questioned stating that they intend to vote in the Scottish elections, political parties in Scotland have everything to play for in terms of winning the votes of disabled people.”
Given that this section of the electorate is roughly equivalent to the pensioners’ vote it seems that all of the political parties need to do more to recognise and engage the political power of disabled people. The voting intentions survey is building upon Capability Scotland’s campaigning work on accessible voting for disabled people. This work also includes research into the accessibility of polling places and the voting process going back to 1997, as well as Vote2007 – a website resource for disabled voters at www.vote.org.uk.
Abi Bremner commented further: “When we asked respondents about Government’s performance so far in these key areas, the response was ‘poor’ across the board. Crime was the area where Government performance was considered worst, with 44% giving a verdict of poor with 7% giving a ‘good’ rating. The Government’s best area of performance was health but, even here, 30% rated it as poor, and 40% saw it as neither good nor bad.
“We know that there have initiatives from the Scottish Executive over the past four years which has aimed to improve disabled people’s lives. Therefore, the lessons coming out of this research for all the political parties – and particularly for the next Scottish Executive are that they must put disabled people at the heart of their political agenda.”
