Disability Charity Launches VOTE2007 Website

Capability Scotland has launched its Vote2007 website, which will aim to encourage disabled people to participate fully in the forthcoming 2007 Scottish elections. The Vote2007 website will provide useful and easy to understand information for disabled people on voting

It includes a virtual polling station which takes users through the process of voting step by step and highlights the additional help disabled voters can expect to be available to them.

Capability Scotland has been actively campaigning on the issue of access to voting for disabled people since 1997. This work has included conducting surveys of disabled people’s voting experiences at every election.

Capability Scotland research shows a general improvement in disabled people’s voting experiences over the last decade. In 1997, 43% of polling stations had major accessibility issues. This compares with 40% in 2001 and 17% in 2003. However, in 2005, the figure increased again to 24%.

In 2007, Capability Scotland is planning on continuing its campaigning work through two election-based research projects. The first will be a survey of the voting intentions of disabled people in advance of the election, and the second a survey of disabled people’s experiences of voting on polling day.

Abi Bremner, Campaigns, Parliamentary & Policy Manager at Capability Scotland, said: “Vote2007 is a truly innovative website .  Its main aim is to empower more disabled people to vote in the Scottish Parliament and local authority elections on 3rd May 2007.

“We know from our previous research work that people with disabilities can sometimes find it difficult to vote – and that’s why we produced the Vote2007 website. It contains lots of useful and easy to understand information about voting generally. It also covers the specific help that disabled people can expect to be available to them – things like accessible polling booths and large print examples of ballot papers.

“Voting is a fundamental human right, but disabled people can face barriers to exercising this right at every level. Vote2007 provides practical help while, at the same time, challenging the physical and attitudinal barriers that cause the problems in the first place.”