PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
ACCESS FOR DISABLED VOTERS TO THE GENERAL ELECTION 2005 (20 July 2005)

That this House welcomes Scope's recent Polls Apart campaign, supported by Capability Scotland and Disability Action Northern Ireland, focusing on access for disabled voters to the General Election 2005; is very concerned at its findings that reveal that 68 per cent. of polling stations and 63 per cent. of postal voting systems were inaccessible to disabled people; notes that disabled people's legal rights under the Representation of the People Act 2000 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 are not being property enforced; further notes that the electoral system still excludes many disabled people and denies them their basic right to a secret ballot; regrets that there will be no e-voting pilots run this year to expand the voting options available to disabled people; and calls on the Government to enforce disabled people's existing legal rights and continue to develop and pilot fully accessible e-voting systems with a view to rolling out multi-channel voting nationwide within the next five years.

Sponsored by:
Dame Anne Begg (Labour)