Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps his Department has taken to improve registration rates and voter turnout of (a) visually impaired voters and (b) voters with learning difficulties.

Greg Clark

Electoral law requires returning officers to take account of the needs of people with disabilities by making polling stations and voting accessible.

In June 2014, the government will be introducing an online facility for registration which will support further accessibility options for those with particular needs. User testing of paper forms has allowed their design to take into account the requirements of those with disabilities.

The Cabinet Office has also funded the Royal Mencap Society to create educational resources for people with a learning disability and to develop a model for one-to-one support for families, carers and others to encourage and enable registering to vote.