Disability Campaigner not happy with lack of accessible polling stations in the Mayo Electoral Area
Dear Editor,
Electors with Physical Illness or Physical Disability who have difficulty gaining access to their local polling stations may apply to have their vote transferred to a more accessible station in their constituency. This facility is intended to assist electors who find access to their local station difficult because of the situation or design of the building. This notice appeared in the Sunday World edition of the 25th May 2008, according to Disability Campaigner, Tom Chambers.
Notice was placed in Tuesday 27th May 2008 edition of the Mayo news advising that 17 polling stations located in national schools in the Mayo constituency would be "inaccessible or pose difficulties for accessibility for those with disabilities" who wish to vote in the Lisbon Treaty on the 12th June 2008. Despite the fact that the 1996 Electoral Act provides that wheelchair accessible polling stations "shall " be provided where practicable, sufficient funding to enact this provision hasn't been made available by the Government of the day.
In the light of this, alternative arrangements are been made by the County Register to allow disabled voters affected to vote at the nearest wheelchair accessible polling station. Considering that all of them are National schools this reflects particularly badly on the rights of the disabled in our education system, he said. In other words, we the disabled have to go in search of polling stations that we feel are accessible. While this is undoubtedly incontinence in rural areas; it is a greater burden for the disabled in more remote parts of the county.
However, progress has been made since the last election when 18 such polling stations (schools) were inaccessible to the disabled. But this is still not good enough, according to Tom Chambers who says the situations symptomatic of the lack of efforts' to recognising the rights of the disabled. The lack of accessible polling stations needs to be highlighted to our public representatives who come knocking on our doors looking for votes to enable the disabled to exercise their constitutional right to vote in the same way as every other citizen. "Disabled citizens who do intend to exercise their rights to vote regardless of the blatant discrimination against them should be funded for the extra distance they have to travel to the nearest polling station, said Tom Chambers.
Finally, as the European and local elections will be taken place in 2009 are we going to put up with the same thing again or are we going to make a stand for ourselves. By this I mean to boycott the election in 2009 if we can't get a commitment from the people we propose to elect and represent us at all levels, said Mr. Chambers.
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