DISABLED voters in Scotland were less satisfied with their experience at the polls than those without disabilities, an Electoral Commission (EC) report has revealed.
The EC have released a paper going into detail about the voting experience during the Scottish parliamentary elections on May 6, 2021, which includes results of a voter survey.
And the survey revealed that only 93% of voters who described themselves as disabled, or with long term health issues, were satisfied with the voting process, compared to 96% of non disabled voters.
The percentage may appear small, but the report goes into further details about the issues faced by those with disabilities at polling stations and makes recommendations for changes ahead of next year's council elections.
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Disabled voters were also more likely to value the assistance of staff in polling places as useful (83%), compared to 77% of non-disabled voters.
Voters with disabilities were also less likely to have said it was easy to vote by post and complete their ballot paper.
Where 97% of non-disabled voters said it was easy to complete and return a postal vote, this was only 87% for respondents with disabilities.
The proportion of disabled voters who found it easy to find their chosen party or candidate was also lower than amongst those who do not have disabilities (89% vs 94%).
The report reads: “These findings were supported by organisations representing disabled people who found that some of their members and service users experienced particular challenges in relation to the accessibility of the voting process.
The EC report focussed on the May 6 Scottish Parliament election
“They reported feedback from disabled voters about polling staff being unaware of the measures that should have been in place to support disabled voters.”
Measures in place, required by law, include large print ballot papers, tactile template voting device (TVD) for blind and visually impaired voters, assistance available when requested to mark their ballot paper and large print versions of postal voting packs.
The paper noted that the EX had become aware of issues relating to how they were delivered in practice, for example, problems getting large print ballot papers due to supply issues with print suppliers.
One anonymous disabled voter quoted in the paper said: “When I arrived, they had no idea where the template was and had to go round the whole hall to find one. Then when I was assisted by one of the staff in the booth she told me she had never used them before so she would have to have a look and see how to do it.
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“I asked them if they had the tactile voting device and the large print ballot paper, it took them ages to find it and when they came back they could only find the tactile voting device and couldn’t find the large print ballot paper.
“They also had never used the tactile voting device before so they weren’t sure how to set it up properly so they ended up having to mark my ballot for me meaning I couldn’t actually vote in private.”
The report said: “Also, there was a notable increase in the number of parties and individual candidates contesting the 2021 Scottish Parliament election in comparison to 2016, which created difficulties for some ROs in supplying a TVD which could accommodate the longer ballot paper.
“We also heard anecdotal evidence from blind and visually impaired voters about tactile voting devices being sellotaped together to accommodate the longer ballot paper.”
The EC added that returning officers were also forced to improvise on numerous occasions to assist disabled voters, beyond what is required by law as set out above.
A further report on accessibility for disabled voters will be released after the 2022 council elections
This included allowing the use of magnifying glasses/sheets, induction loops, allowing voters to use electronic readers or phone magnifying devices and providing extra seating in polling stations for those with mobility issues.
The report recommended: “Ahead of the 2022 council elections, the Electoral Management Board (EMB) should work with the electoral community and disability organisations to strengthen accessibility training for polling staff.
“This includes learning from and sharing the good practice of ROs who took additional steps to support disabled voters, above those prescribed in law.”
The EC has stated it ill produce a report on progress in this area after the 2022 Scottish Council elections.
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