Memorandum by Mencap (POS 24)
I am writing to you in regard to the inquiry
being carried out into postal voting for the European Parliament
and local elections of June 2004.
Mencap would like to echo the submission by
Scope. We are also concerned about the plan to pilot all-postal
voting across the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
and East Midlands regions on the grounds that 14 million voters
will have no choice over the method they use to vote.
Disabled people form a substantial part of the
electorate and surveys by Scope have shown that whilst postal
voting does increase accessibility for some disabled electors,
for example, wheelchair users, it also creates barriers to voting
for others, such as people with a learning disability.
In order to achieve greater participation in
the democratic process, it is important that voting systems are
inclusive so that disabled and non-disabled voters have an equal
opportunity to make political choices. In supporting Scope's work
in this area, Mencap recommends that a range of methods be adopted
simultaneously as no single voting method can suit the needs of
all voters.
David Congdon
Head of External Relations
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