The Spanish Presidency of the Council led 20 countries in endorsing the “Declaration of the Spanish Presidency of the European Council on Expanding Voting Rights of Persons with Disabilities” (PDF) on 16 November 2023. This declaration is supported by the European Disability Forum and the European Economic and Social Committee.
The declaration is a result of the “High-Level Meeting on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” held by the Spanish Presidency of the European Council. It reaffirms the signatories’ commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, stressing its Article 29 on “participation in political and public life”.
The declaration underlines 6 specific commitments to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities, with a focus on political participation:
- Promote cooperation between the Member States of the European Union to reach a common understanding on guaranteeing and expanding the full and equal enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities;
- Ensure an analysis and a reflection on exercising the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament, enabling all persons with disabilities in the European Union to vote and be elected without any restrictions whatsoever in elections to the European Parliament;
- Promote and value joint initiatives involving persons with disabilities, in all their diversity and regardless of their background, in EU decision-making;
- Strengthen the leadership of persons with disabilities through increased support to organizations that represent them to enable meaningful participation and greater influence on decision-making;
- Encourage the removal of barriers, particularly for digital services, by promoting and adopting common accessibility requirements that favour the effective participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life.
- Ensure, through reasonable accommodation, the accessibility of the whole electoral process to facilitate the possibility of voting independently and in secret (e.g., providing alternative means of voting, advance voting, tactile stencils, QR codes, or guidance in easy to read, sign language or Braille), and to allow free choice of assistance to cast one’s vote.