Rolling with Sarah

It is so important to exercise your right to vote. Here in Canada, we are lucky enough  to live in a free country which is a democracy, and it is a privilege to vote. On the voters card, it says that all poll stations will be fully accessible. The word fully is a big promise. Unfortunately, I discovered it wasn’t the case.  While I was able to vote, it was not a fully accessible experience. 

While the obvious was thought of ( there was an attendant at the door in place of an actuator) it was details that were missed. Things like a gap in the pavement, lack of accessible parking, or a chair in the voting booth blocking wheelchair access.

In 2021, electors with disabilities were less likely to report having voted (90%) than those without disabilities (94%). Following the election, electors with severe or very severe disabilities were more likely to report illness or disability as the main reason they did not vote (17%), compared with electors with mild or moderate disabilities (6%) and those with no disabilities (3%).

Following the general election, 25% of voters with very severe disabilities and 14% of voters with severe disabilities reported needing information on accessibility tools that are available at the polling location, however, only 40% of voters with a very severe disability and 41% of voters with a severe disability found this information very easy to access.

I did reach out to one of the Elections Canada employees to fill out a complaint form and they were very apologetic when I told them I had a less-than-ideal experience. They listened to my concerns and genuinely seemed like they would investigate the accessibility of the venue more thoroughly in the future. In a broader sense, voters with a severe or very severe disability were less likely to be very satisfied with the services provided by Elections Canada staff.

Of those who voted in person at a polling place, the proportion of voters reporting that it was very easy to vote decreased with disability severity. Compared with 90% of voters with no disability, voters with moderate (86%), severe (82%) and very severe disabilities (80%) were less likely to find voting to be very easy. The likelihood of being very satisfied with the voting experience decreased as disability severity increased.

All in all, I could make do, but it wasn’t an easy scenario. Certainly not fully accessible as promised. If you have a disability and are planning to vote in person, your best bet is to contact Elections Canada to ensure the polling station you are planning to go to will meet your needs. From what I have researched, it seems I am not alone in my less than stellar evaluation.  As a country we need to do better.

The statistics I have used in this article come from Elections Canada’s 2021 National Electors Study.