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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

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Source: The AGENDA
When: 09/10/2014

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