Polling station access for people with disabilities

PEOPLE with disabilities who have difficulty gaining access to their local polling station can apply in writing to the returning officer – by Friday 18 February – for permission to vote at another polling station.

The National Disability Authority has welcomed Department of Environment guidelines for returning officers and presiding officers for the 2011 General Election. They advice about how to ensure the voting process and, as far as practicable, the choice of polling station is disability-friendly includes:-

a)      Voting at an alternative polling station if the local station is inaccessible;

b)     Being helped to vote at the polling station by a companion or the presiding officer.

At least one of these facilities is available to you if you have a physical illness or disability, a visual impairment or a reading or writing disability.

For more information contact the National Disability Authority at (01) 608 0400

[email protected]

[email protected]