With only eight months to go before the general election there are several practical steps that can be taken to encourage voting by people with learning disabilities. In the third article in this series, Diane Lightfoot explains what these are.
We’re now eight months away from the general election, and halfway through our series of columns to promote voting by people with learning disabilities. In our first two columns we explored the barriers to voting, including legal obstacles and more subtle difficulties, like the complexity and inaccessibility of information on voting. We also recommended that all organisations working with people with learning disabilities engage in a listening exercise where they find out exactly what prevents them from voting.
Now it’s time for action. There are several practical steps that need to be considered to encourage voting, and the sooner they are taken the more likely it is that people with learning disabilities will have their democratic say. The most important considerations are registration, mental capacity and access to information.
Registration
Ensuring your potential voters are registered is mundane but essential. This step has been complicated this year by a new development – the shift from voters being registered through the “head of household” to being registered as individuals. This is a welcome and modernising move but it does mean that service providers will need to take special care to ensure that the people they support are registered under the new system.
Research has shown that for complex reasons, including the legal registration of services, people with learning disabilities have historically been registered to vote at much higher rates than have actually voted. Most people who are registered under the previous system will be transferred automatically to the new Individual Electoral Registration. However, some will not, and they should receive a letter telling them to register again at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. This can be a complex process, so it is wise to identify staff members who will be able to provide support.
In addition, if some of the people you support do not receive a letter confirming they have been transferred to the new system, or if you are unsure if they were ever registered at all, then it is best to err on the side of caution and check their registration status. This can only be done through local electoral services. You can find out yours at the Electoral Commission’s excellent website
Mental capacity to vote
Having got the basics of registration sorted, the next step is to consider whether the people you support have the mental capacity to vote. Many support workers and service providers falsely believe that most people with learning disabilities lack the capacity to vote. This is simply not true – the 2005 Mental Capacity Act makes clear that a person should be presumed to have capacity unless explicitly proven otherwise.
All that someone needs to do to demonstrate capacity is show that they are able to choose between candidates and understand that they are choosing someone with political influence rather than, say, voting in an X Factor competition. The individual can make their choice by whatever criteria they like. It is not up to anyone else to judge if those reasons are valid or not. Experience suggests that only a small minority of people with very complex needs would not pass this test.
Even if you believe that some people you support do lack capacity, the job does not end there. Another requirement of the Act is that a person is not treated as unable to make a decision unless all steps to help the person make that decision have been taken. That means using all the time between now and May 2015 trying to develop an individual’s understanding of politics and voting so they can participate if they wish to.
Access to information
With registration and capacity established, it’s now time to move on to the more interesting but challenging task of giving the people you support the right information on the parties and candidates. The best way of doing this is by engaging directly with your local political parties who have a vested interest in giving people information which could lead to a vote. This is particularly true in a marginal or fiercely contested seat, of which there will be many in 2015.
We recommend that you draw up local engagement plans, based on parliamentary seats. Work out who the major political parties are in your area – a little Googling should be enough to establish this – and work out what you would like them to do for you. This might simply be to provide easy read information, something which may not have occurred to them before. If they need persuading, remind them that there are 1 million voters with learning disabilities in England alone, a sizeable voting block they should be courting.
Some organisations may be more ambitious. Some of United Response’s services organised a hustings event before the 2010 election, where representatives of the political parties addressed people with learning disabilities directly, before taking questions. Although this takes time, nothing could be more powerful in increasing awareness of politics among people you support, and showing them its relevance.
Invite significant local parties
Whatever you would like the parties to do, get in touch with them as soon as you are able, so that they have time to respond appropriately. It’s important to note at this point that it is against the law for charities or other service providers to be biased against any political parties, as well as a disservice to the democratic freedom of the people you support. Therefore it is crucial that all of your significant local parties are invited to provide information, even ones that your employees might not agree with.
If you get these basics right, you have gone a long way to making the playing field more even for people with learning disabilities. Our next columns will focus on accessible information on the voting process itself, which support workers and advocates can use to work directly with people with learning disabilities. This can make all the difference on election day itself.
Diane Lightfoot is Director of Communications for United Response.
