National Assembly Member Mohammad Asghar has welcomed the Assembly Government’s response to calls for a bilingual line of text offering further information on voting options to be included on polling cards in areas where polling station inaccessibility is a concern.
After discussions with representatives from Scope Cymru, Mr Asghar, the Shadow Minister for Heritage & Equality, has lobbied the Minister responsible regarding the benefit of introducing such text.
The Minister for Social Justice & Local Government has subsequently agreed to take up the matter with the Electoral Commission as one they might consider when proposing changes to legislative provisions.
Mr Asghar said: “In my view, this has the potential to be a highly cost-effective means of providing disabled voters with crucial information which could increase the likelihood of many being able to vote independently.
“I put this idea to the Minister following discussions with Scope Cymru and I welcome that, as a consequence, he has agreed to take the issue further”.
Suzanne Jones, Director of Scope Cymru said: “We are grateful to both Mr Asghar and the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government for taking the idea of adding accessibility detail to polling cards forward.
“At the last general election two thirds of polling stations we surveyed in Wales had one or more access barrier that could prevent a disabled voter from being able to vote independently and in secret. Unfortunately, many disabled people will not have been aware of them until they turned up to vote.
“While there is more that can be done, providing information on polling cards would be a step in the right direction and will enable some disabled people to make an informed choice about which method they use to cast their vote.
“If any disabled person is worried about whether they will be able to cast their vote in May then they should contact their local elections office as soon as possible to discuss their options.”
