Okay, the thing you need to know as you read this post is that Ontario is having a provincial Election on June 7. Electing a Premier (who is kind of like a state Governor in the US), happens every 4 years; unlike the US, the election period is short and sweet (approximately 6 weeks from the time it’s called to Voting Day), and it’s a stand-alone event: no other provinces are electing Premiers right now, and our Federal election isn’t until the fall. However, like the US, Ontario has struggled with how to make the voting process (which uses paper ballots) as accessible for disabled people as possible, and there have already been fails in early voting for the Ontario election.

David Lepofsky, a blind lawyer and law professor living in Toronto and the head of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, released a press after voting at an advanced polling station with his sighted wife.

Image Description: A hand holds a note that says “Don’t Forget to Vote” 

Content Note: Ableism, politics, election, accessibility, privilege

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Lepofsky wanted to make people aware in his press release that he encountered three significant barriers at the polling station:

1. A statement that he was required to sign was not available in Braille.
2. The machine that printed out his ballot, based on verbal input from Lepofsky, did not give him an option to spoil it. It also did not ask ask him to confirm his choice before printing out his ballot.
3.  After the machine printed out his ballot, it fell on the floor.  The poll worker who assisted confirmed that he saw who Lepofsky had voted for.

Ontario Election 2018 and Voting Barriers

I worked in a polling station for an Ontario election a few years  after my stroke. I don’t remember a machine like Lepofsky talks about, and I know that there are low-sight people in my community. Were materials in Braille? I don’t think so. I could be wrong, but I really don’t think so. I’m sure that there was information in our training about accommodations for disabled people, but I don’t have any memory of it.

I’ve really given little thought about accessibility and voting, especially for Ontario elections, beyond some narrow parameters:

• Can people access the voting site?
• Are people with intellectual disabilities getting the information that they need about elections and voting? Why or why not?

I’m learning so much this year about how privileged I truly am.

It’s been my privilege that’s led me to assume that once people get to the ballot box, they’ll be okay, because I haven’t required any accommodation to vote as a disabled person. I can fill out my own ballot, fold it, and drop it in the box.

And when I’ve insisted to American friends that voting by paper ballot is possible without compromising disabled voter rights, a situation like the one Lepofsky described, where a poll worker could see the voter’s choice in the process of assisting them, had never occurred to me.

I join Lepofsky in his insistence that the poll worker was not to blame for any of the barriers that Lepofsky encountered – these are systemic issues that the Ontario Government needs to address. I’m surprised that the first two happened at all, because having (especially government) documents available in multiple formats is part of the Ontario Government’s plan for being accessible by 2025, and Lepofsky himself said that voting machines in past  Ontario elections have given him the chance to confirm his selection before printing his ballot.

The third barrier, however, has been apparently overlooked and potentially quite large, and it’s not even strictly a disability issue: Should a voter require a pollster’s assistance with a filled-out ballot (for any reason), how can pollsters ensure that ballot secrecy remains intact?

It’s important to talk about this. Like I said, it’s not just a disability issue, but arguably it has the potential to affect more disabled people than non-disabled people.

I wonder what the incoming provincial government will do about this, after this Ontario election is over?

I suspect that nothing will be done, regardless of which party gets in, but perhaps I’m too cynical.

Perhaps.

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