Almost half of the 160 polling places monitored during the presidential elections of this year were fully inaccessible to persons with disabilities, while 41% were partially accessible. The conclusions were presented by the Legal Assistance Center for Persons with Disabilities in partnership with the Center for Continuous Electoral Training.
In a news conference at IPN, Olga Cenusa, director of the project “Mobilization of participation of persons with disabilities in the presidential elections 2016”, said the central electoral authority accredited 16 local promoters from among persons with disabilities, who formulated suggestions for electoral bureau members for adjusting polling places so that they become accessible. Owing to the intervention of promoters, voter turnout among persons with disabilities in the mentioned settlements was 31.6%, up 11.6 percentage points compared with the average during the local elections of 2015.
Ion Cibotarica, advocacy programs and public policy director of the Legal Assistance Center for Persons with Disabilities, spoke about the main problems faced by the persons with disabilities at polling places. Among this was the placing of polling places on the second floor or in the basement. According to the Central Election Commission, 5% of the polling places had such a location. A number of institutions, including public ones, have metallic rails instead of ramps and these cannot be used by wheelchair users. Some of the ramps were very slippery or too short and thus inappropriate. There were also polling places with unsatisfactory lighting. Of all the monitored polling places, none had a parking lot for persons with disabilities nearby, though this was one of the recommendations for reasonable adjustment.
Adrian Afteni, local promoter in Ungheni district, said on Election Day he was at a polling station in Parlita village and submitted suggesting for adjusting this by providing wheelchair access. He could thus contribute to facilitating the participation of persons with disabilities in voting. It is a positive practice when persons with disabilities formulate suggestions for making the polling places meet their needs. Sometimes, the heads of precinct electoral bureaus refused to provide the necessary supplies, arguing they do not have disabled persons in the settlement.
