Countries unprepared for voters with disabilities, says report

Report shows voters with disabilities still face difficulties voting across the EU and will be hindered in upcoming elections.

Transcript

00:00 Many people with disabilities won`t be able to cast their votes in the upcoming EU elections,

00:07 even if they want to.

00:12 I won`t be able to vote because I`m under legal guardianship.

00:18 Sufian El Amrani was able to vote in elections, but since 2016, when he was under legal guardianship,

00:25 he lost his right. He is fighting to get it back, but the legal process is long. For Sufian,

00:31 there needs to be a change in the authorities` mentality.

00:35 They are afraid that they`ll make the wrong choices. And we`re not - we`ll be labeled

00:42 with a - like a - we`ll be labeled something like, oh, he doesn`t know how to vote, he

00:46 needs help. But it`s our right to stand up for our rights and make sure that we`re heard

00:51 and our voices are taken into account.

00:55 The situation is not the same across the EU. In 15 member states, intellectually disabled

01:01 people have full rights.

01:06 But in seven EU countries, including Sufian`s own Belgium, intellectually disabled people

01:11 under guardianship have limited voting rights. In four EU countries - Estonia, Bulgaria,

01:17 Poland and Cyprus - they have no right at all.

01:20 According to a recent report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, in 2019,

01:26 around 800,000 European citizens with disabilities could not use their right to vote, either

01:32 because they were banned or because polling stations were not accessible enough.

01:36 The situation this year is expected to be better, but there`s still work to do.

01:40 Give the right to vote to everyone and then provide support. So, they say you provide

01:45 support in decision making, so people who the person trusts, who can assist the person

01:51 in voting. And this is how you ensure that they actually participate in the electoral

01:57 process.

01:59 The agency has asked member states to remove the legal and administrative barriers for

02:04 people with disabilities or increase the accessibility to the election to increase their participation.

02:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]