The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, has highlighted the work being carried out by the Government of Spain to guarantee equality and the inclusion of people with disabilities in the process of the General Elections that will be held next Sunday, July 23.
Quiñones met this Tuesday with the president of the Territorial Council of the ONCE, Sergio Olavarría, and the territorial delegate of the organization, Óscar Pérez, to address all the measures put in place to guarantee the accessibility of people with disabilities in the next General Elections of July 23.
The delegate of the Government has extolled that “equality and inclusion are a clear bet of this Government and transfers it to all sectors, including the electoral”. “Both in the past autonomous and municipal elections and in these upcoming General Elections, it will be ensured that people with disabilities exercise their right to vote, consciously, freely and voluntarily, regardless of the way of communicating it and with the means of support that it requires.”
Accessibility in the electoral process has two aspects: the accessibility of people during voting and the accessibility of the people who make up the polling stations. It includes measures for sensory, physical and intellectual disabilities.
During the meeting this Tuesday, Quiñones has been able to know in detail one of the kits that blind people receive to exercise the right to vote. This kit is in the form of a briefcase and includes ballot papers with candidacies, voting envelopes and a braille explanatory guide to manipulate documentation and prepare envelopes for Congress and the Senate. The government delegate explained that the kit will be available to these people at their electoral college on the day of the vote.
A total of 26 people have requested this braille voting kit in Cantabria and will receive it on Sunday in their polling stations when they go to vote. Specifically, 16 people have requested it in Santander, 3 in Laredo, 2 in Santa Cruz de Bezana, 1 in Potes, 1 in Torrelavega, 1 in Castañeda, 1 in Udías and 1 in Villaescusa.
In the case of deaf people, the main measure is to ensure their participation at the polling stations. In this case, the Government Delegation in Cantabria must provide sign language interpreters to accompany them on the day. For these elections, no request has been received from this service.
For people with intellectual disabilities, the Ministry of the Interior signed an agreement with the Full Inclusion Confederation to develop accessible and/or easy-to-read materials for use in polling stations. In addition, the manuals for the members of the tables have a specific section dedicated to the voting of people with disabilities. All the material of these elections, from the website, mobile applications and impressions, complies with the current accessibility regulations.