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There are about 100 million people with disabilities in the EU,

and despite the progress made, they still find it hard to participate in elections.

So how is the EU helping them exercise this basic democratic right?

Stay with us. In June 2024, voters across the EU will elect 720 members of the European Parliament.

As the EU's only directly elected body, this election is one of the largest democratic exercises in the world. So it's vital that people with disabilities can participate in it under the same conditions as anyone else.

The problem is, despite the progress, they still face many legal, administrative, institutional and accessibility barriers to cast their votes.

For instance, a lack of voting mechanisms for disabled

people living in institutions, physical barriers to access polling stations, or difficulties to access

information during electoral campaigns. So what is the EU doing to help them? Several EU initiatives

encourage people with disabilities to participate in politics.

Next to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which the EU is a part,

the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees every citizen the right to vote and stand as a

candidate in European elections and in municipal

elections.

The European Commission's strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities presented

in 2021 commits the EU and its member states to making those rights a reality.

And with the 2024 European elections around the corner, the European Parliament is also committed to helping them take part and avoid a repeat of the previous elections when millions of citizens with disabilities could not vote due to technical and other barriers.

The problem currently is that conditions vary from country to country, as it's up to the member

states to decide on how they organise the elections in their territory.

So, for instance, while all EU countries have accessible voting booths and ballot boxes,

only 18 of the 27 grant disabled people the choice of polling station.

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