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December 3, 2018 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In France, all adults under guardianship should be able to vote by the next municipal elections in 2020. AFP / MYCHELE DANIAU
" Empowering people with disabilities and ensuring participation and equality " is the theme of the International Day of Disabled Persons, which takes place on Monday, 3 December. To make the society more inclusive, the French government announced on October 25 that the adults under guardianship will have an inalienable right to vote. The associations rejoice, but ask for a real accompaniment.
When she turned 18 in 2016, Justine, a mentally disabled person, went before a guardianship judge. " He asked me if Francois Hollande was right or left. I replied that he was right. I did not know the names of the ministers either. The judge told me to come back in three years for a new application for voting rights, "she says.
The young woman, living in an establishment managed by the Departmental Association of Parents and Friends of People with Intellectual Disabilities (Adapei), admits that she had little knowledge of politics. The decision was nevertheless " unfair " according to her. " I was angry on the spot. We have the right to be wrong, and we can help or accompany a disabled person to vote. It's a right, my citizenship. I want to elect my president . "
300 000 persons under guardianship deprived of the right to vote
Like Justine, nearly 300,000 people under guardianship, mainly with mental and psychological disabilities, can not vote. But soon, they will no longer have to go before a judge to get the right to vote, or simply to marry or to pacser.
Following the promise of candidate Emmanuel Macron to make society more inclusive, the government announced on October 25 measures to change the lives of people with disabilities. The most emblematic of them: the inalienable right to vote of adults under guardianship.
According to Sophie Cluzel, secretary of state for persons with disabilities, these 300,000 persons under guardianship deprived of the right to vote will be able to express themselves in the municipal elections of 2020. In concrete terms, article L5 of the electoral code, according to which " the judge on the maintenance or abolition of the protected person's right to vote ", will be deleted.
This first step is positive, but it takes work " to support this citizenship "
For associations, this measure, claimed for many years, is a step forward. " It's the expression of full citizenship. People with disabilities are clearly asking that nothing be done without them, without their being able to express themselves, "explains Luc Gateau, President of the National Union of Associations of Parents, People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Friends (Unapei ).
This measure nevertheless requires, according to him, an " accompaniment of this citizenship ". An opinion shared by Matthieu Annereau, president of the National Association for the consideration of disability in public and private policies. Hailing a " positive step ", he calls for further action to ensure a real accessibility of the vote. " This includes braille or auditory messages for the visually impaired, easy-to-read and understandable scripts for people with mental disabilities, and also the accessibility of polling stations and receiving buildings. public meetings of candidates. "
To those who believe that people under guardianship would lack a free vote to vote, Matthew Annereau replied: " It was already the argument at the time for women can not vote. We break taboos in French society. This inalienable right to vote for all persons with disabilities is already included in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by France in 2010.