13 March 2003 Edition
The Right to Vote
An Phoblacht's ÁINE NÍ BHRIAN examines how new legislation in the North has worked to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters.
Political manipulation by the British government and its unionist counterparts is nothing new in the Six Counties. Republicans have seen it all - unionist gerrymandering, electoral manipulation, a judicial system that caters to an exclusionist political agenda - and over the years they have challenged the status quo with steadfast determination.
But new legislation imposed just prior to this upcoming election could potentially exclude a large section of the population and rob many of their right to vote. This month, Sinn Féin submitted a detailed document outlining the party's criticisms of recent legislation's impact on the electoral register.
The British state has long sought to dismiss the nationalist voice within the political arena, and in particular, the continuous rise of the Sinn Féin vote. It seems the election, now postponed until 29 May, will be no different, even if the state's tactics have become more subtle in some respects, and more blatant and crude in others.
In direct contrast to the British government's own Representation of the People Act 2000, which was a response to falling voter numbers and intended to facilitate easier access to the electoral register, the newly passed Electoral Fraud Act of 2002 is unique to the North of Ireland and does not apply in Britain.
It is clearly aimed at the typical Sinn Féin voter but manages to criminalise the entire population of the North by implying that voters here are untrustworthy potential fraudsters. It is the latest in a long line of attempts to downplay and exclude nationalists and republicans from the political process, while maintaining the illusion of democracy.
The upcoming election is crucial. Its outcome will influence the direction of the peace process and the future of issues such as policing, equality, and power sharing. The British government, unionists, and even the SDLP recognise this, and fear Sinn Féin's influence.
So the Electoral Fraud Act was rushed through the legislative process, with the support of all those other political parties, and the changes it has implemented have already led to large numbers of the population from across the political spectrum being unable to vote in the next election.
Voters in the Six Counties have regularly turned out in greater numbers than anywhere in Britain, but this legislation and its suspect timing is purposefully designed to discourage voters by disenfranchising and even excluding many from the electoral register and process altogether.
The Electoral Commission is responsible for informing and educating the public about any changes to the electoral process, but its recent publicity campaign started later than it should have and still remains vastly inadequate.
Sinn Féin says it was originally informed by the Commission that their publicity blitz would begin in July and August of 2002, but canvassers did not begin arriving at the doors of voters until well into September.
Voters, unaware of the new requirements, were left confused about the registration process, and the way in which they were informed, if informed at all, left the most disadvantaged in our society - such as those suffering social exclusion, the elderly, and young people - most affected.
The badly run campaign has not gotten any better. An Phoblacht chose four copies of the Irish News at random for the month of February 2003. Not one contained any notification from the Electoral Commission on the new changes or how to get in touch with the office for further information.
130,000 people from across the North, listed on the June 2002 Electoral Register, were not on the register issued in December 2002. In addition, the Census figures released in December 2002 show that a further 57,683 eligible voters also did not appear. More than 100,000 entire households are not registered at all.
In previous elections, the head of a household was able to fill in the form on behalf of all those of voting age in the home, but now, for the first time, each of those voters must register as an individual in order to be listed on the electoral register and claim their vote. Each one must fill out and sign the required form individually and then submit it, but problems began because the forms were not easily accessible.
Forms mailed or delivered to many homes were slow in arriving, and some simply did not appear. There have been many instances where large numbers of young people and first time voters never received the necessary forms at all.
In constituencies like Newry/Armagh, West Tyrone, and West Belfast, the numbers of people registering to vote for the first time dropped from 50% to 80% and it is no coincidence that those areas happen to be largely nationalist.
If the forms did show up, there was still no guarantee that they would be processed or even received by the electoral office before the set closing date for applications.
There were no clinics or arrangements made for those voters with literacy problems or for those who might need assistance in filling out the forms due to disability or language barriers.
Eligible voters who are fortunate enough to have been placed on the electoral register are further required to produce photographic identification in order to claim their vote. But according to a recent BBC report, it is estimated that approximately 250,000 voters do not have any form of photographic identification - a damaging statistic considering government intentions to exclude all forms of non-photographic identification in advance of the forthcoming Assembly election.
Although they might well be listed on the register, those who do not have photographic ID will have to apply for and produce an official Electoral Identity Card before they will be allowed to vote. That too, must be done well in advance. Processing thousands of applications takes time, and there are fears that many people will be refused their right to vote due only to the fact that the private firm responsible for processing and issuing the cards will be unable to meet the demand before polling day.
While there were over 233,000 requests by voters for Electoral Identity Cards, only approximately 45,000 requests have been processed to date and not one identity card has thus far been issued.
The necessity of voter verification is both reasonable and acceptable, but the ineffectiveness of the current process is not. Much of the additional information that must be provided in order for a card to be issued does not sit well with republican voters for many reasons - including concerns around privacy, personal safety and security.
The card can only be issued if the voter provides all the personal details requested - such as current and former addresses, date of birth, National Insurance Number, a photograph, and a written signature. The intrusive nature of these requirements plays upon the innate and justified suspicion of nationalists, who may already be under threat or at risk of violence for their beliefs.
The Electoral Commission states that the bodies entitled to purchase the full electoral register are government departments and their agencies for security, law enforcement and crime prevention - the very agencies that republicans have long known to utilise personal information to breach the right to privacy, target people for surveillance and harassment, and supply intelligence to unionist death squads.
Such concerns, and the confusion and inadequacies of both the new legislation and the Electoral Commission, may well ensure that many nationalists will not be able to claim their vote come election day.
Which was, of course, the intention all along.
BY ÁINE NÍ BHRIAN
Voters who have special needs - those with physical or mental disabilities - have been able to vote in the past. But this year, people with learning disabilities or their carers are being asked to provide confirmation that they have "sufficient mental capacity" to exercise that right before they can be placed on the register.
In an outrageous official document issued by the Electoral Commission outlining "guidelines" to the voting process for people with learning disabilities and patients suffering from mental illness, those affected are actually referred to as "idiots" and "lunatics".
The paper reads: "The eligibility of someone who has a profound learning disability might, however, in certain cases be called into question because under the common law so-called 'idiots' cannot vote. So-called 'lunatics', on the other hand, can vote, though only in their lucid intervals, and so could not be excluded from the register on this ground."
Although the paper tries to qualify its use of language as the terminology of common law, it is a telling indictment of the British government with respect to this issue. Even though the Commission is quoting common law statutes in serious need of a rewrite to bring them into the 21st century, the same point could have been made without resorting to language that would obviously be offensive. The law may have been written centuries ago, but the Electoral Office appendix was not.
In the same paper, the Commission states that this "guidance" was originally drawn up by the Government after consultation with the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Department of Health, the Law Society, the Mental Health Act Commission, and the charities MENCAP and MIND.
But did these contributors approve of the content detailed in this final draft of the paper, or is the Commission misleading the public as to the level of participation involved? Just because someone was consulted does not mean their recommendations were taken on board.
The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for those who provide services to the public to discriminate against disabled people. Although a London-based spokesperson for the Electoral Commission recently stated that "our view is that those who are responsible for compiling the register should err on the side of inclusion rather than omission", the lack of appropriate state provisions seems to imply otherwise.
The Code of Practice for electoral officers, issued by the British Home Office in August 1993, advises that the onus should be on people to object to inclusion of a name, rather than having a person with learning disabilities prove their rightful position on it.
However, in the past month, several people have received letters from the Electoral Office requesting additional clarification regarding the mental capacity of those voters who have had the required forms filled out on their behalf. This request means those filling out the forms are being asked to make a clinical judgement that they may not be trained or qualified to make.
The practice of having a second party fill out the electoral registration form is, as is clearly stated on the form itself, perfectly acceptable - provided there is an accompanying explanation. This means the Electoral Office is taking these explanations into account when deciding whether or not to allow a person to vote and may be breaching an individual's civil rights in doing so.
"People with a learning disability have the same right to vote as other people and as such they should have the opportunity to express their opinions and to make a difference in the political system that effects their lives," says Maureen Piggot, the Six-County director of MENCAP.
"Having a learning disability does not automatically mean that a person does not understand the choices available to them and the role of politicians.
"It is essential that everyone with an interest in the electoral process; the Electoral Office, political parties, community and voluntary groups and carers and familes, do all they can to encourage and support people with a learning disability who wish to exercise their right to vote."
Andersontown mother Monica Digney was furious after she received a letter from the Electoral Office asking her for "advice" as to whether her 26-year-old son Eamonn, who has learning disabilities, was capable of personally making a decision on whom he wished to vote for without the assistance of another person.
"My son has had a vote for eight years," said Digney, "And what's more, he has used it. I have been with him on each occasion and we have never once been challenged. Yet now we're being told he could lose his vote. It's outrageous.
"This is the only real right that my son ever had, and now they are trying to take it away from him. This is an equality issue, a human rights issue, and if I have to, I will go to the highest courts in the land to defend my son's rights."
Digney's son's case is not an isolated one. The Belfast-based Falls Community Council says that several examples have come to their attention of individuals who have discovered their names have been taken off the electoral register, and say that the new legislation may indeed breach the civil rights of people with special learning needs.
The West Belfast Community group announced it would lobby the 'Northern Ireland Affairs' Select Committee over the flaws in the electoral registration process.
"There is increasing concern at community level about the effect of this new electoral process upon the democratic rights of the most marginalised in our community," a spokesperson said.
There is no official training or formal guidelines offered to electoral officers in this area, and in spite of being clearly unqualified to do so, those same officers are also being asked to make determinations on a voter's competency.
Yet according to the Electoral Commission, a presiding officer in a polling station can challenge a person's vote only on the grounds of identity. They can ask a person for identification and their national insurance number, but they cannot challenge someone's vote on the grounds of intelligence.
There is a lack of accessible information and polling boths available to those with learning disabilities and an absence of transport and appropriate support in helping people mark their ballots. MENCAP is concerned that those assisting voters with special needs may be prevented from aiding them at the polling station.
"Carers of people with learning difficulties are put in charge of every other aspect of that person's life, so why make an exception to an assisted vote?" asks MENCAP. The group has been in touch with the Human Rights Commission about the matter, but althought the Commission is interested, it has issued no formal response.
The charity then contacted the Equality Commission, which has told them it would require an organization or individual to make a formal complaint before it could act.
MENCAP is also concerned that assumptions are being made about people with learning difficulties and points out that under equality legislation there is a duty on public bodies such as the Electoral Office to promote equality of opportunity, not limit it.
Sinn Féin is seeking a top-level meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Denis Stanley to express concern about the manner in which this issue is being addressed. The party has called for an immediate review of the guidelines and laws regarding access to the voting process for the learning disabled and others who may be denied their vote simply because they required assistance in filling out the electoral registration forms.
"The people we are aware of who have been victimised in this manner have voted before," said Bairbre de Brún. "It is, therefore, a matter of grave concern that they should now be told that because of a learning diability or for no reason other than they are unable to read and write, they will be denied the right to vote come election day.
"If, as it would appear, the competency of people entitled to a vote is being called into question and decided by the Electoral Office, we are dealing with a problem of potentially huge proportions that cannot go unchallenged."
Political manipulation by the British government and its unionist counterparts is nothing new in the Six Counties. Republicans have seen it all - unionist gerrymandering, electoral manipulation, a judicial system that caters to an exclusionist political agenda - and over the years they have challenged the status quo with steadfast determination.
But new legislation imposed just prior to this upcoming election could potentially exclude a large section of the population and rob many of their right to vote. This month, Sinn Féin submitted a detailed document outlining the party's criticisms of recent legislation's impact on the electoral register.
The British state has long sought to dismiss the nationalist voice within the political arena, and in particular, the continuous rise of the Sinn Féin vote. It seems the election, now postponed until 29 May, will be no different, even if the state's tactics have become more subtle in some respects, and more blatant and crude in others.
Act only applies to Six Counties
In direct contrast to the British government's own Representation of the People Act 2000, which was a response to falling voter numbers and intended to facilitate easier access to the electoral register, the newly passed Electoral Fraud Act of 2002 is unique to the North of Ireland and does not apply in Britain.
It is clearly aimed at the typical Sinn Féin voter but manages to criminalise the entire population of the North by implying that voters here are untrustworthy potential fraudsters. It is the latest in a long line of attempts to downplay and exclude nationalists and republicans from the political process, while maintaining the illusion of democracy.
The upcoming election is crucial. Its outcome will influence the direction of the peace process and the future of issues such as policing, equality, and power sharing. The British government, unionists, and even the SDLP recognise this, and fear Sinn Féin's influence.
So the Electoral Fraud Act was rushed through the legislative process, with the support of all those other political parties, and the changes it has implemented have already led to large numbers of the population from across the political spectrum being unable to vote in the next election.
Voters in the Six Counties have regularly turned out in greater numbers than anywhere in Britain, but this legislation and its suspect timing is purposefully designed to discourage voters by disenfranchising and even excluding many from the electoral register and process altogether.
People not informed
The Electoral Commission is responsible for informing and educating the public about any changes to the electoral process, but its recent publicity campaign started later than it should have and still remains vastly inadequate.
Sinn Féin says it was originally informed by the Commission that their publicity blitz would begin in July and August of 2002, but canvassers did not begin arriving at the doors of voters until well into September.
Voters, unaware of the new requirements, were left confused about the registration process, and the way in which they were informed, if informed at all, left the most disadvantaged in our society - such as those suffering social exclusion, the elderly, and young people - most affected.
The badly run campaign has not gotten any better. An Phoblacht chose four copies of the Irish News at random for the month of February 2003. Not one contained any notification from the Electoral Commission on the new changes or how to get in touch with the office for further information.
130,000 people from across the North, listed on the June 2002 Electoral Register, were not on the register issued in December 2002. In addition, the Census figures released in December 2002 show that a further 57,683 eligible voters also did not appear. More than 100,000 entire households are not registered at all.
Delays and red tape
In previous elections, the head of a household was able to fill in the form on behalf of all those of voting age in the home, but now, for the first time, each of those voters must register as an individual in order to be listed on the electoral register and claim their vote. Each one must fill out and sign the required form individually and then submit it, but problems began because the forms were not easily accessible.
Forms mailed or delivered to many homes were slow in arriving, and some simply did not appear. There have been many instances where large numbers of young people and first time voters never received the necessary forms at all.
In constituencies like Newry/Armagh, West Tyrone, and West Belfast, the numbers of people registering to vote for the first time dropped from 50% to 80% and it is no coincidence that those areas happen to be largely nationalist.
If the forms did show up, there was still no guarantee that they would be processed or even received by the electoral office before the set closing date for applications.
There were no clinics or arrangements made for those voters with literacy problems or for those who might need assistance in filling out the forms due to disability or language barriers.
Photo ID
Eligible voters who are fortunate enough to have been placed on the electoral register are further required to produce photographic identification in order to claim their vote. But according to a recent BBC report, it is estimated that approximately 250,000 voters do not have any form of photographic identification - a damaging statistic considering government intentions to exclude all forms of non-photographic identification in advance of the forthcoming Assembly election.
Although they might well be listed on the register, those who do not have photographic ID will have to apply for and produce an official Electoral Identity Card before they will be allowed to vote. That too, must be done well in advance. Processing thousands of applications takes time, and there are fears that many people will be refused their right to vote due only to the fact that the private firm responsible for processing and issuing the cards will be unable to meet the demand before polling day.
While there were over 233,000 requests by voters for Electoral Identity Cards, only approximately 45,000 requests have been processed to date and not one identity card has thus far been issued.
The necessity of voter verification is both reasonable and acceptable, but the ineffectiveness of the current process is not. Much of the additional information that must be provided in order for a card to be issued does not sit well with republican voters for many reasons - including concerns around privacy, personal safety and security.
The card can only be issued if the voter provides all the personal details requested - such as current and former addresses, date of birth, National Insurance Number, a photograph, and a written signature. The intrusive nature of these requirements plays upon the innate and justified suspicion of nationalists, who may already be under threat or at risk of violence for their beliefs.
The Electoral Commission states that the bodies entitled to purchase the full electoral register are government departments and their agencies for security, law enforcement and crime prevention - the very agencies that republicans have long known to utilise personal information to breach the right to privacy, target people for surveillance and harassment, and supply intelligence to unionist death squads.
Such concerns, and the confusion and inadequacies of both the new legislation and the Electoral Commission, may well ensure that many nationalists will not be able to claim their vote come election day.
Which was, of course, the intention all along.
Idiots and lunatics
BY ÁINE NÍ BHRIAN
Voters who have special needs - those with physical or mental disabilities - have been able to vote in the past. But this year, people with learning disabilities or their carers are being asked to provide confirmation that they have "sufficient mental capacity" to exercise that right before they can be placed on the register.
In an outrageous official document issued by the Electoral Commission outlining "guidelines" to the voting process for people with learning disabilities and patients suffering from mental illness, those affected are actually referred to as "idiots" and "lunatics".
The paper reads: "The eligibility of someone who has a profound learning disability might, however, in certain cases be called into question because under the common law so-called 'idiots' cannot vote. So-called 'lunatics', on the other hand, can vote, though only in their lucid intervals, and so could not be excluded from the register on this ground."
Although the paper tries to qualify its use of language as the terminology of common law, it is a telling indictment of the British government with respect to this issue. Even though the Commission is quoting common law statutes in serious need of a rewrite to bring them into the 21st century, the same point could have been made without resorting to language that would obviously be offensive. The law may have been written centuries ago, but the Electoral Office appendix was not.
In the same paper, the Commission states that this "guidance" was originally drawn up by the Government after consultation with the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Department of Health, the Law Society, the Mental Health Act Commission, and the charities MENCAP and MIND.
But did these contributors approve of the content detailed in this final draft of the paper, or is the Commission misleading the public as to the level of participation involved? Just because someone was consulted does not mean their recommendations were taken on board.
The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for those who provide services to the public to discriminate against disabled people. Although a London-based spokesperson for the Electoral Commission recently stated that "our view is that those who are responsible for compiling the register should err on the side of inclusion rather than omission", the lack of appropriate state provisions seems to imply otherwise.
The Code of Practice for electoral officers, issued by the British Home Office in August 1993, advises that the onus should be on people to object to inclusion of a name, rather than having a person with learning disabilities prove their rightful position on it.
However, in the past month, several people have received letters from the Electoral Office requesting additional clarification regarding the mental capacity of those voters who have had the required forms filled out on their behalf. This request means those filling out the forms are being asked to make a clinical judgement that they may not be trained or qualified to make.
The practice of having a second party fill out the electoral registration form is, as is clearly stated on the form itself, perfectly acceptable - provided there is an accompanying explanation. This means the Electoral Office is taking these explanations into account when deciding whether or not to allow a person to vote and may be breaching an individual's civil rights in doing so.
"People with a learning disability have the same right to vote as other people and as such they should have the opportunity to express their opinions and to make a difference in the political system that effects their lives," says Maureen Piggot, the Six-County director of MENCAP.
"Having a learning disability does not automatically mean that a person does not understand the choices available to them and the role of politicians.
"It is essential that everyone with an interest in the electoral process; the Electoral Office, political parties, community and voluntary groups and carers and familes, do all they can to encourage and support people with a learning disability who wish to exercise their right to vote."
Andersontown mother Monica Digney was furious after she received a letter from the Electoral Office asking her for "advice" as to whether her 26-year-old son Eamonn, who has learning disabilities, was capable of personally making a decision on whom he wished to vote for without the assistance of another person.
"My son has had a vote for eight years," said Digney, "And what's more, he has used it. I have been with him on each occasion and we have never once been challenged. Yet now we're being told he could lose his vote. It's outrageous.
"This is the only real right that my son ever had, and now they are trying to take it away from him. This is an equality issue, a human rights issue, and if I have to, I will go to the highest courts in the land to defend my son's rights."
Digney's son's case is not an isolated one. The Belfast-based Falls Community Council says that several examples have come to their attention of individuals who have discovered their names have been taken off the electoral register, and say that the new legislation may indeed breach the civil rights of people with special learning needs.
The West Belfast Community group announced it would lobby the 'Northern Ireland Affairs' Select Committee over the flaws in the electoral registration process.
"There is increasing concern at community level about the effect of this new electoral process upon the democratic rights of the most marginalised in our community," a spokesperson said.
There is no official training or formal guidelines offered to electoral officers in this area, and in spite of being clearly unqualified to do so, those same officers are also being asked to make determinations on a voter's competency.
Yet according to the Electoral Commission, a presiding officer in a polling station can challenge a person's vote only on the grounds of identity. They can ask a person for identification and their national insurance number, but they cannot challenge someone's vote on the grounds of intelligence.
There is a lack of accessible information and polling boths available to those with learning disabilities and an absence of transport and appropriate support in helping people mark their ballots. MENCAP is concerned that those assisting voters with special needs may be prevented from aiding them at the polling station.
"Carers of people with learning difficulties are put in charge of every other aspect of that person's life, so why make an exception to an assisted vote?" asks MENCAP. The group has been in touch with the Human Rights Commission about the matter, but althought the Commission is interested, it has issued no formal response.
The charity then contacted the Equality Commission, which has told them it would require an organization or individual to make a formal complaint before it could act.
MENCAP is also concerned that assumptions are being made about people with learning difficulties and points out that under equality legislation there is a duty on public bodies such as the Electoral Office to promote equality of opportunity, not limit it.
Sinn Féin is seeking a top-level meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Denis Stanley to express concern about the manner in which this issue is being addressed. The party has called for an immediate review of the guidelines and laws regarding access to the voting process for the learning disabled and others who may be denied their vote simply because they required assistance in filling out the electoral registration forms.
"The people we are aware of who have been victimised in this manner have voted before," said Bairbre de Brún. "It is, therefore, a matter of grave concern that they should now be told that because of a learning diability or for no reason other than they are unable to read and write, they will be denied the right to vote come election day.
"If, as it would appear, the competency of people entitled to a vote is being called into question and decided by the Electoral Office, we are dealing with a problem of potentially huge proportions that cannot go unchallenged."