Polls Apart 5

24/06/2007

New research by Capability Scotland shows that there was a general improvement in access to voting for disabled people in the 2007 Scottish elections.  However, more disabled people found it harder to vote than in previous elections.

Polls Apart 5 reports on the experiences of disabled people and carers when voting in the 2007 Scottish elections.

Capability Scotland has been campaigning on the issue of accessible elections since 1997. As well as working with local authorities and disabled people to improve access, we have also conducted surveys of disabled voters after each election. Full results from previous surveys are available from our accessible voting website www.vote.org.uk.

Key findings from Polls Apart 5 include:

• A general improvement in the accessibility of the voting process for disabled people, although this trend is not consistent across all areas.
• A significant minority (24%) of respondents found voting in 2007 to be harder than it was in 2005, highlighting problems with the design of the ballot paper and the single transferable vote process. 
• People with learning disabilities are significantly less likely to find polling station staff to be friendly and helpful than disabled voters generally. This suggested that people with learning disabilities are not being treated equally when exercising their right to vote.

A motion has been tabled in the Scottish Parliament urging local and central Government to consider accessibility issues in their election planning:
 
*S3M-221 Hugh O’Donnell: Polls Apart 5 Report—That the Parliament notes the contents of Capability Scotland’s Polls Apart 5 report looking at the accessibility of the 2007 Scottish elections for disabled people; welcomes the findings that access for disabled people has generally improved in relation to 2005 results; notes with concern that, despite improved access, more disabled people than ever before found voting to be harder than it was in previous elections, and calls on local and central government to ensure that accessibility for disabled people retains a high priority in their election planning.

An executive summary of  Polls Apart 5 is available  here.
Get a pdf version of Polls Apart 5 here.
Get a word version of Polls Apart 5 here .

Or you can visit our Campaigning Reports page where you can find more Capability Scotland research reports.

<< Go Back