TQM report,
Access Nigeria Campaign has expressed concern over persistent electoral barriers faced by persons with disabilities.
Grace Jerry, the Executive Director of Inclusive Friends Association which is the convener of Access Nigeria Campaign stated this during a Pre-Election Press Conference organized by the group on Saturday in Awka, Anambra State Capital.
She said that despite making up 15% of Nigeria’s population, Nigerians with disabilities continue to face challenges with participating in their country’s elections. Polling units are not always accessible to voters with physical impairments.
She cited example with Observer reports showed that there was an absence of ramps and handrails for use by PWDs at 96 per cent of polling units during the 2016 Governorship election in Edo, and at 99 per cent of polling units during the Ondo governorship election of the same year. During the 2019 governorship in Kogi state, observer reports showed that there were no ramps and handrails for use by PWDs at 93 per cent of polling units.
She pointed out some of the barriers such as Ballot boxes are often placed on high tables during elections, making it difficult for wheelchair users to cast their ballots independently, the absence and/or inconsistent use of sign language interpreters during voter education and political campaigns makes it impossible for voters who are deaf or hard of hearing to be properly informed.
She reminded that these barriers are in breach of provisions of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 and Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), to which Nigeria is a signatory.
She also said that based on their findings on the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR), the group observed a CVR process in Anambra state from August 11 to September 1 and their CVR observers collected 1,840 pieces of data from 20 out of the 21 Local Government Areas (LGA) in Anambra state. The Observers could not observe in Ayamelum LGA due to the lingering crisis there.
“Positive outcomes from IFA’s CVR observation included observer reports that 70 per cent of routes leading to registration centres were accessible to PWDs. Access Nigeria CVR observers also reported that INEC provided priority registration in 95 per cent of registration centres and collected the data of PWDs, disaggregated by type of disabilities, as advocated for by the Access Nigeria Campaign. On the downside, Access Nigeria Observers reported that 80 per cent of INEC registration centres in Anambra state were inaccessible to PWDs and there were no sign language interpreters to interpret the process to Deaf citizens. Finally, there was a clear absence of security personnel at 70 per cent of registration centres observed. The Access Nigeria campaign found this disturbing, considering PWDs mobility challenges and the difficulties they could face in the case of violence and chaos”.
Apart from the group’s CVR observation, they conducted far-reaching voter education and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns targeting PWDs. Ahead of the election, the IFA-led Access Nigeria Campaign educated PWDs on assistive materials to be used during the election, how to vote and the importance of adhering to COVID-19 protocols, among others. The campaign also highlighted the importance of voting and called on PWDs in Anambra state to come out and vote. The Access Nigeria campaign conducted its voter education and GOTV campaigns in Anambra state through in-person engagements and media content like jingles.
The group is deploying 200 specially trained observers with disabilities to 200 sampled polling units to observe the accessibility of the Anambra governorship election to PWDs. The Anambra polling unit accessibility audit will be conducted across the 21 LGAs in the state through the lenses of observers with different forms of disabilities. Using a specialized checklist, Access Nigeria observers will observe and report on the accessibility of routes (roads) leading to polling units for PWDs; accessibility of the entrance and internal layout of the polling unit for PWDs availability of election materials in usable formats for PWDs; and the accessibility of election day processes to PWDs. The Access Nigeria Campaign trained all 200 PWD observers at nine centres clustering the LGAs according to their proximity and numbers of participating observers with all COVID 19 protocols adhered to. To ascertain observers, understand the content of training and to test Access Nigeria systems and readiness, all 200 observers had participated in a simulation exercise on Tuesday 2nd and Thursday 4th November 2021 ahead of the election. Observers sent in practice text messages to the IFA database.
“The audit will measure INEC’s compliance to section 56 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) and Articles 9 and 27 of the CRPD which legally guarantees the rights of PWDs to participate in political and public life” she added.
She also said that the Access Nigeria campaign has recorded some successes such as collecting Nigeria’s first set of representative or statistically valid data on the challenges faced by PWDs during elections. Data from IFA’s audits have provided INEC and other stakeholders what they need to address the challenges of PWDs, based on what PWDs themselves observed, influencing INEC’s introduction of voting aids like the Braille ballot guide and Election Day written instructions (EC 30E PWD) to make it easier for blind and deaf voters to independently participate in elections in 2018. This historic feat was made possible by evidence-based advocacy conducted by the Access Nigeria campaign using the data collected during its polling unit accessibility audits.
“Since 2018, the Access Nigeria campaign has successfully engaged INEC to sustain the deployment of these voting aids during off-cycle elections and the 2019 general elections. IFA’s advocacy has also strengthened INEC’s deployment of other voting aids like magnifying glasses; and PWD election day data capturing documents like Form EC 40H PWD. IFA’s advocacy also led to INEC’s collection of PWD data, disaggregated by types of disability. during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process in Anambra state. It is important to emphasize that all of these achievements were only possible because of IFA’s polling unit audits which allowed us to conduct evidence-based advocacy to INEC and other stakeholders”.
She called on all PWDs that are registered to vote and have their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to go out en masse and vote for the candidates of their choice, INEC should stand by its commitment to providing the Braille ballot guide, guarantee the provision of other PWD-friendly election materials including the Election Day written instructions (EC 30 E PWD), and magnifying glasses, ensure effective and consistent use of Form EC40H to capture disaggregated data of PWDs voting on Election Day in line with their type of disabilities and enforce its policy of priority voting for PWDs so that PWDs are not required to stand in line for long hours as witnessed in previous elections.
She beckoned on security agencies to protect all voters and election observers, especially those with disabilities. Voters and election observers with disabilities face peculiar mobility and other challenges that make it difficult or impossible for them to run to safety during election-related violence and chaos.
She pleaded on the media to focus their report on how PWDs are faring during the Anambra governorship election.
The Access Nigeria Campaign conducted Nigeria’s first-ever polling unit accessibility audits to better understand the challenges that PWDs face on election day, and to conduct evidence-based advocacy based on the representative data collected. These historic audits which were conducted during the 2016 governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states and the 2019 Kogi state governorship election, exposed the widespread barriers experienced by PWDs on Election Day. Foremost on the list of challenges observed was the inaccessibility of polling units for PWDs and the limited supply or total unavailability of election in usable formats. For example, Access Nigeria Observers reported that 65 per cent of the polling units in Edo state, 77 per cent of polling units in Ondo state and 55 per cent of those in Kogi state were in places that were inaccessible for PWDs. The 2016 Edo and Ondo and 2019 Kogi state polling unit accessibility audit provided important data for the Access Nigeria campaign’s advocacy to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which has resulted in the historic introduction of new voting aides and the strengthening of PWD-friendly processes.
The group will be conducting its fourth polling unit accessibility audit during the November 6, governorship election in Anambra state, to collect new data that will form the basis of advocacy for more accessible elections in 2022, 2023 and beyond.
