General News
Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes
Table of Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations...................................................................................................... 3
Definition of Key Terms...............................................................................................................5
Easy-to-Read Executive Summary................................................................................................8
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................15
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 19
Section 1: Disability 101..............................................................................................................25
What is Disability?......................................................................................................................... 25
Rights-based Language................................................................................................................. 26
Diversity of the Disability Community........................................................................................... 27
Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs)....................................................................................... 28
Mapping the DPO Community...................................................................................................... 29
Legal Basis for Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities............................................................30
Disability Policies among Development Aid Agencies...................................................................32
Breaking Down the Barriers.......................................................................................................... 34
Strategies to Support Inclusive Electoral and Political Processes.................................................. 35
The Electoral Cycle........................................................................................................................ 36
Section 2: Pre-electoral Period.................................................................................................... 39
Assessments through a Disability Lens........................................................................................ 40
Election Law Reform.................................................................................................................... 40
Inclusive Election Administration................................................................................................ 42
Section 3: Electoral Period.......................................................................................................... 51
Observation................................................................................................................................. 51
Nomination.................................................................................................................................. 53
Campaigns................................................................................................................................... 54
Election Day Implementation...................................................................................................... 56
Results Transmission................................................................................................................... 56
Election Dispute Resolution......................................................................................................... 56
Section 4: Post-electoral Period.................................................................................................. 59
Polling Station Audits.................................................................................................................. 59
Capture Lessons Learned............................................................................................................ 60
2 International Foundation for Electoral Systems and National Democratic Institute
Accessibility of Government Institutions.................................................................................... 60
Capacity-building of DPOs........................................................................................................... 60
Election Commissioner Selection Criteria................................................................................... 61
Inclusive Civic Education.............................................................................................................. 61
Section 5: Challenges.................................................................................................................. 63
Lack of Data................................................................................................................................. 63
Discrimination............................................................................................................................. 63
Operating Environment............................................................................................................... 64
Mandatory Voting....................................................................................................................... 64
Leadership................................................................................................................................... 64
Accessible Technology................................................................................................................. 65
Monitoring and Evaluation.......................................................................................................... 65
Sharing Lessons Learned............................................................................................................. 66
Section 6: Dominican Republic Case Study.................................................................................. 69
Overview..................................................................................................................................... 69
How Did the Project Include People with Disabilities in Elections and Political Life?.................. 69
Challenges and Lessons Learned................................................................................................. 72
Impact ........................................................................................................................................ 73
Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 73
Annex: Election Access Milestones............................................................................................. 75
December 1984 ‒ Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‒ Article 21...................................... 75
March 1976 ‒ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ‒ Article 25.......................... 75
September 2001 ‒ Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Persons with Disabilities ‒ Article 3................................................................................ 76
May 2008 ‒ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ‒ Article 29......................... 76
May 2010 ‒ European Court of Human Rights ‒ Kiss V. Hungary................................................ 77
November 2011 ‒ Bali Declaration on the Enhancement of the Role and Participation of Persons
with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community.................................................................................. 78
November 2011 ‒ Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2011)14 of the Committee of
Ministers to Member States on the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Political and
Public Life.................................................................................................................................... 78
December 2011 ‒ Revised Venice Commission Interpretative Declaration to the Code of Good
Practice in Electoral Matters on the Participation of People with Disabilities............................ 79
December 2011 ‒ UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ‒ Regional
Stakeholder Consultation for the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Final Review
of the Implementation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2013 (Second
Session)....................................................................................................................................... 81
December 2011 ‒ Thematic Study by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on Participation in Political and Public Life by Persons with Disabilities.............. 82
November 2012 ‒ Bali Commitments on Equal Access to Elections........................................... 83
Additional Information
Country: Other
Website: N/A
Email: N/A
Phone: N/A
Contact Person: N/A
Source: The AGENDA
When: 09/10/2014