Guidelines for accessible elections in Europe

The outcomes of the ADAP project include developing recommendations for accessible elections in Europe – in both regular and easy-to-read versions in 21 languages – covering legislation, accessible information, support for decision-making etc. as well as collection of good practices from 27 European countries (in 3 languages).

Problems Targeted

People with intellectual, sensory, or physical disabilities as well as older people are often excluded from voting processes due to a lack of accessibility. Moreover, through targeted questionnaires, Inclusion Europe discovered that this is a problem, of which many European politicians are unaware, and thus take no steps in addressing. Furthermore, these groups lacked the knowledge and means to advocate for their voting rights, or did not understand the value of political participation.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

A first phase analysed the situation within EU member states, focusing specifically on the European elections of June 2009. A second phase provided information, good practices, and civic education to politicians, NGOs, and people with disabilities or older persons in order to break down the barriers to their participation in the election processes. Project partners identified three target groups when implementing the two phases: 1) political parties, 2) national electoral bodies organizing the elections, and 3) European Union citizens at risk of encountering problems when attempting to participate in elections. All project deliverables were developed in consultation with the persons at risk, and people with intellectual disabilities from three countries tested all materials to ensure accessibility.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The ADAP project has been followed-up by both Inclusion Europe (IE) and by project partners. IE has further disseminated ADAP publications on its new “voting-for-all.eu” website, and has included ADAP project outcomes in a manifesto for the 2014 European Parliament elections. French partner and member Nous Aussi has published a poster explaining how to vote, which has been placed in the area of Dunquerque for the 2014 city council and European elections. French members Nous Aussi and Unapei have participated in an official hearing for a report commissioned by the French Prime Minister on how to make elections more accessible, where they further referred to and mentioned the ADAP publications. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has also requested the collaboration of Inclusion Europe on accessibility of elections and disability issues. The project could easily be copied and reproduced throughout the European Union.