In the next few weeks there will be a general election and local elections in London.

What does this mean for you as a disabled Londoner?

Is your local Polling Station accessible?

Voting in local and general elections should be accessible to everyone who is entitled to vote, whether you do so in person at a Polling Station, by post or by proxy. However many disabled people have been excluded from the election process in the past for a variety of reasons including:

• Physical access to polling stations, booths
• Jargon used in voting and political campaign literature

We know from research (Mencap) that in the 2005 General Election only 2 out of 10 people with learning disabilities voted compared to 6 out of 10 of the general population. Also during the same Elections, Scope’s campaign volunteers surveyed over 2,000 polling stations and found that as many as 68% of polling stations could be inaccessible to a disabled person.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission, recently said that providing equal access to polling stations for disabled voters was “fundamental to democracy”, but added that “I know we are not there yet.” This is unacceptable as all disabled people should be able to vote in person if they choose to. To find out more about how you can take part in the coming elections visit the DirectGov page Voting in Elections for Disabled People by following this link: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Everydaylifeandaccess/Everydayaccess/DG_4018637

I should also let you know about ‘Polls Apart’, Scope’s campaign to ensure that disabled people have the same access to Britain’s democracy as everyone else. This campaign has been running since 1992, and although access has improved, there is still a long way to go before disabled people can be confident that they won't face discrimination at the ballot box. During the 2010 General Election Scope will again be looking at the accessibility of the voting process, including polling stations as well as postal voting to make sure that all voting methods take disabled people's needs into account.

Whilst access is a huge issue, I am sure that many disabled people also want to know which candidates have prioritised the needs of disabled people and those with long term health conditions.  In these last few weeks before the election I am sure that there will be many candidates knocking on your door trying to get your vote. Knowing where each candidate stands on issues that affect your life will be useful when deciding how to use your vote. The Leonard Cheshire website has a list of questions that you might want to quiz your candidate on.  See these by following this link: http://www.lcdisability.org/?lid=11672 . Alternatively you might use these examples to come up with some questions of your own.

Finally, Inclusion London want Deaf and disabled Londoners to have the chance to hear directly from a variety of election candidates, and for the politicians to hear about your concerns and issues. In order to ensure that disabled people can have their say, they will be holding a free Election Event for Deaf and Disabled Londoners on Tuesday, 20th April at 10.00am to 1.00pm at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury – Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT.

This is your chance to find out more about what candidates from different parties think about important issues for Deaf and Disabled Londoners. You will also be able to put your questions to candidates.

Speakers will include:

We hope you will take this opportunity to join Scope’s Polls Apart campaign and or to attend the Election Event on the 20^th April 2010. For more information and a booking form for the Inclusion London Election Event contact Jeni Price:

Email: inclusionlondonelectionevent@gmail.com

Call: 01273 251 667 or text messages only 07837 802 788

(BSL interpreters, induction loop and speech to text transcription provided)

For more information about Polls Apart or to join Scope’s campaigning activity in general, please contact the campaigns team at Scope.

Email: campaigns@scope.org.uk

Call: 020 7619 7370

Visit: www.scope.org.uk