Response from Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
and Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) to the Cabinet Office call for
evidence on access to voting
1. About us
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) promotes the
interests of blind and partially sighted people and those at risk
of sight loss, across the UK. We are led by a trustee board with
over 80% blind and partially sighted people. We have around 30,000
people in our RNIB Connect community, the vast majority of whom
have sight loss. Our ambition is to change the world for those
living with, and at risk of, sight loss. We take action to prevent
avoidable sight loss, provide support and services to enable
independence and campaign to create a fully inclusive society.
Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) is a registered charity which
offers people who are blind or partially sighted the support they
require to lead an independent life. We are committed to increasing
awareness and understanding of the needs of people with sight loss
and to developing and implementing services which meet their
needs.
Through our research and engagement with blind and partially
sighted people it is clear that access to voting for blind and
partially sighted people is still unacceptable and many barriers
still exist that prevent people voting independently and in
secret.
TPT and RNIB are pleased to collaborate to respond to this
inquiry.
2. Response2.1 Methodology
To inform our response, RNIB and TPT spoke with around 40 blind
and partially sighted people around the country. RNIB sent out
information and links to the call for evidence to our Connect
community as well as encouraging staff to respond directly to the
inquiry and to pass details of it on to blind and partially sighted
people that they came across through the course of their work.
We gathered case studies through round-table discussions at
consultation events in Bristol, Manchester, London and Birmingham.
Quotes from these case studies will be used throughout the
remainder of this document
The questions considered at our round-tables were:
1. Experiences of registering to vote
2. Do you need help registering, if so who provides support
3. What do you think can be done to make registering easier?
4. How do you prefer to vote, why?
5. If you have ever visited a polling station, what was your
experience?
6. Do you need help casting your vote, and if so who provides
it?
7. What can be done to make the process easier?
RNIB has undertaken research looking into the experiences of
voters in the General Election in 2015, the local, Mayoral and
Referendum elections in 2016 and most recently the General Election
in 2017. Our most recent “Turned Out” report can be found here:
http://www.rnib.org.uk/sites/default/files/Turned%20Out%202017%20APDF_1.pdf
After the General Election this year over 400 blind and
partially sighted people responded to the question “would you say
that the current voting system allows you to vote without
assistance and in secret?”:
45 per cent said ‘No’
29 per cent said ‘Partially’
These people were also asked what changes they felt were needed
to the voting system to make it accessible.
54 per cent of blind and partially sighted respondents felt new
accessible ways to vote are needed like telephone, electronic and
online voting.
Only 4 per cent felt no changes were needed to the current
system.
2.2 Registering to vote
The roundtable events that we held last month looked at issues
that blind and partially sighted people have with registering to
vote and the processes involved.
We received feedback that some local authorities were very
proactive in ensuring that blind and partially sighted people had
support when it came to registering to vote, but negative
experiences were far more common:
“If you don’t have anyone who can help you it can be completely
isolating! This can affect elderly and isolated people in
particular.”
“My local authority is really good when it comes to getting
blind and partially sighted people on the electoral register.
Rehabilitation workers routinely ask if people need help
registering to vote and provide support during home visits.”
Blind and partially sighted voters would like registering to
vote online to be easier and for support to be easier to
access:
“Make the whole additional services easier to access online –
e.g. if I have to call a helpline it’s going to be in hours where I
can’t necessarily call/ spend hours trying to get to the bottom of
the problem. I don’t have time to get passed around.”
“I didn’t vote this year because of the preparation and planning
required doing it. It’s more of an effort for me to do it so it’s
further down on my to do list.”
Anecdotal evidence from our members suggests that in some cases
the move to individual elector registration had caused them to drop
off the register as they had previously relied on someone else in
their household to complete the documentation for them. It was
clear through our events that many people relied on the annual
canvass in order to get on/remain on the electoral register.
Many of the people who attended our roundtable events pointed
out that the polling cards that they are issued with are
inaccessible.
“The problem with polling cards is that they are never different
to the other mail. There is no way of telling the difference
between the polling card and junk mail. They should have Braille in
the corner like the new £10 notes so that people don’t just throw
it away. If you have no one to help you read then you wouldn’t know
where to go and vote or when it was open. A large print one or
getting it by email would make all the difference.”
2.3 Returning Officers and polling staff
The evidence collected for this call for evidence, alongside
research contained in RNIB’s Turned Out reports suggests that
knowledge of the issues facing blind and partially sighted people
when it comes to voting is hit-and-miss between local authorities,
and in some cases between one polling station and another.
Training given to polling staff appears to be of different
standards across the country leaving blind and partially sighted
people with a postcode lottery when it comes to getting support to
vote independently and in secret.
“I settle with the fact that someone else knows about my vote!
In theory it bothers me but I try not to think about it.”
People who fed back to us were keen to point out that all too
often they were prevented from taking the large print ballot paper
into the polling booth by polling staff. In some cases, much like
the tactile template, there wasn’t a large print example in the
polling station or that it had been stuck to the wall far away from
where the voting booths were located.
We have found that in some areas, blind and partially sighted
people have been denied their vote because they haven’t been
accompanied and polling staff have wrongly informed them that it is
against the law for them to help cast their vote. Given the small
majorities in some constituencies across the country, the votes of
blind and partially sighted people could make the difference
between one candidate and another winning. This has huge
implications for democracy.
“More than one blind person was told by a presiding officer that
they couldn’t help them to cast their vote as it was against the
law. This meant that they were unable to vote at all.”
2.4 Tactile Voting Device
Experiences given during the course of our research highlighted
that the tactile voting device (TVD) is not fit-for-purpose. RNIB
has received a number of reports from members of the public that
they have not been available in their polling station, that they’ve
not been the right ones or that staff don’t know how to use
them:
“Although the tactile guide was available the staff did not know
how to use it and attached it wrongly to my ballot paper. I had to
inform them how it should be attached and used. They were friendly
and keen to help but their positive attitude did not assist me to
vote.”
Fundamentally the design of the TVD means that blind and
partially sighted people are still unable to vote in secret:
“The tactile guide itself is not ideal in many ways it doesn’t
tell you where the boundaries of the box are, no way to know if
your pen worked or your mark is within the box etc.”
“I spoiled my first ballot paper when trying to use the tactile
template as I could not line up candidate braille information with
the cross entry position. The template did allow me to count down
through the candidate list to the one I wished to vote for. The
station staff read out the ballot list for me. The template has no
horizontal or vertical guide lines to align the candidate entry
with the box where the cross must be entered. I had to get the
member of staff to check my ballot paper to confirm the position of
my cross. Why cannot the template include a cut out box against
each candidate?”
“I love the experience of voting. However, I was so disappointed
that in 2017 I cannot cast my vote secretly and independently. I
don’t know if the member of staff placed the cross in the correct
box or even if she placed my vote in the ballot box. I didn’t like
having to tell a stranger who I was voting for. It was one of those
times when my blindness overwhelmed me and left me feeling sad and
frustrated.”
“I have minor issues with the tactile voting template. Sometimes
I need help on where I need to mark my vote. I tend to not able to
read the candidate names, and I choose by the Party logo.”
We believe that it is unacceptable that blind and partially
sighted people are still prevented from voting in secret and face a
lottery when it comes to even getting the support that they need to
use a tactile template at the polling station.
2.5 Alternative ways of voting
We also collected the views of people who opted to vote by post.
Many of the people we spoke to felt that having a postal vote was
the only way for them to guarantee that there would be no problems
on polling day, like for example a lack of staff training or a
missing TVD. However, this process too was inaccessible.
In many cases completing a postal ballot couldn’t be done
independently or in secret. The process of filling in the forms and
making sure that a signature was in the right place and within the
prescribed box caused further obstacles for blind and partially
sighted people, and those without a family member living with them
or nearby found themselves effectively prevented from voting. Many
did not know that electoral staff could help them where
necessary.
I didn’t vote this year because of the preparation and the
planning required to do it. It’s more of an effort for me to do it
so it’s further down on my ‘to do’ list.”
“I do a postal vote it used to be the best way for my ability,
but I found out that it’s borderline now, it’s very difficult to
read.”
Our survey of voters after the 2017 General Election found that
half of blind and partially sighted voters would like there to be
an electronic alternative to voting at the polling station or by
post.
Many different reasons were given, including how it would mean
that blind and partially sighted people would be able to cast their
vote independently without help from polling staff or others, and
also how it would be useful for those people who had fluctuating
eye conditions.
We also received suggestions that people would like an
alternative day of the week to be used as polling day so that
elections could be held at the weekend where people have more time
to go and cast their votes and would also be able to secure more
support from family members who wouldn’t have other work
commitments.
Another suggestion received as part of our consultation is that
extending the voting period – allowing early voting in elections in
a similar way that some US states do – would also be beneficial for
disabled voters.
3. Recommendations
After collecting evidence from blind and partially sighted
people for a number of years now, coupled with our recent
discussions around the call for evidence, TPT and RNIB are calling
on the government to make these changes to make voting truly
independent and secret.
3.1 Implementation of accessible registration processes
In common with the whole of the voting process, the support
offered to blind and partially sighted people when it comes to
registering to vote depends on where in the country they live.
We believe that there should be an agreed standard for Returning
Officers for supporting disabled people to register to vote and
that local councils should be publicising the support offered.
New rules around sharing communication preferences information
from the CVI between adult social care and electoral services are
welcomed, but without guidance on how it should be organised or any
suggestion that it is mandatory we feel that it could be another
thing that doesn’t work in practice.
The process of registering to vote should be changed so that
people can set out their communication needs at the time of
application. From then on information should be provided to them in
their preferred alternative format.
Polling cards should be produced and sent out in alternative
formats to enable blind and partially sighted people to identify
them and to access the information contained on them.
Clear rules should be developed, publicised and enforced to
ensure that support is given to blind and partially sighted people
to register to vote.
3.2 Introduction of a Comprehensive programme of accessibility
training and the development of an Accessibility Performance
Standard
We believe that the Returning and Presiding Officers can greatly
enhance the experience of blind and partially sighted voters in
polling stations and that there are many good examples around the
country where staff make the elections run smoothly for blind and
partially sighted people. However, there is still an unacceptable
postcode lottery when it comes to receiving support.
We recommend an overhaul of the disability awareness training
given to those who work in a public-facing role during elections,
especially to individuals who will work in a polling station.
Training should involve familiarisation with the TVD and hands-on
experience in fitting it to a ballot paper as well as advice around
the law about what people can and can’t do to help those with
additional needs at a polling station.
Disability awareness training of this kind will enable elections
staff to deal confidently with the needs of blind and partially
sighted voters and increase awareness of the types of sight loss
and support that the electorate might need.
The government should work with the Electoral Commission to
bring forward a performance standard around accessibility in
elections which should be binding on Returning Officers. There
should be a set of published standards that disabled people can
refer to about what to expect from electoral staff alongside a
method of complaining when staff fail to meet these standards.
3.3 Improvements for voters who use tactile templates
The TVD in its current form should be scrapped and replaced with
a truly accessible device that enables blind and partially sighted
people to vote in secret and truly independently.
Blind and partially sighted people should be involved in the
design and testing of this new accessible voting device.
Aids to enable voting should be available in every polling
station at every election. They should be the right size for blind
and partially sighted people to be able to vote in secret without
the aid of another person.
3.4 Improvements for voters who use large print
Large print copies of the ballot paper should routinely be
available at every election and people voting should be free to
take them into the polling booth with them.
3.5 Improvements for those who use postal votes and alternative
voting arrangements
Blind and partially sighted people are still facing barriers to
vote by post. The government should commit to making postal voting
accessible by ensuring that materials sent are in accessible
formats and that blind and partially sighted people can access the
information about how to complete their ballot.
Lessons can be learnt from the ways that elections are
facilitated in other countries, and how membership organisations
across the United Kingdom use alternative methods of voting in
their various elections. Examples of this would be the Green Party,
Southern Cooperative, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour
Party.
The Government should look at alternatives to the current
arrangements of voting - particularly telephone voting for disabled
people or allowing voting to take place over a number of days or on
a weekend.
These alternative voting arrangements should be seen as an
addition to improving current practices, not at the exclusion of
them. Disabled people should to be able to participate in elections
in the same way that other members of the population do.
RNIB and TPT represent a constituency that continues to
experience huge barriers to participating in the democratic process
and are often prevented from voting independently and in secret.
The current regulations and guidance as well as practical
provisions for elections do not go far enough and many changes are
needed to make elections accessible.
We call on the government to look at this as a matter of urgency
and both RNIB and TPT are keen to be involved in further
discussions and developments.
For further information or questions, please contact:
Marie Chadwick
Policy Officer
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
105 Judd Street
London
WC1H 9NE
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7391 2388
email: [email protected]
Katy Wright
Head of Engagement and Advocacy
Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT)
Tavistock House South (Entrance D)
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9LG
Tel: +44 7973 692487
email: [email protected]
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