Unified local elections will be held in April this year.
In order to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote, efforts are underway at local election management committees and welfare offices.
The Election Administration Commission of Niiza City, Saitama Prefecture has created a pamphlet for people with disabilities on their website, and they can borrow chairs when filling out ballots and communicate by writing. It summarizes in easy-to-understand terms about the support you can receive at the polling place, such as
In addition, we have prepared a "support sheet" at each polling place that allows you to indicate with your finger whether you need help with voting.
Some municipalities also support travel to polling places.
In Kitayama Village, Wakayama Prefecture, a member of the Council of Social Welfare visits the home of a person who wishes to vote during the early voting period so that those who have difficulty going out can vote by car. are doing
Offices also support
Not only local governments, but also welfare facilities used by people with disabilities are moving to support voting.
At a nursing care office in Okinawa City, where people with intellectual disabilities attend, staff introduced posters of all the candidates before the prefectural gubernatorial election in September last year, and expressed their pledges in easy-to-understand terms. I made an effort to tell you.
In addition, in order not to be confused at unfamiliar polling stations, we practiced voting by “mock voting” and supported them so that they could cast their own important votes.
Regional disparities
Regarding voting for people with disabilities, some organizations that support them point out disparities, such as the presence or absence of support and the content of the support, depending on the region. We are conducting the first large-scale survey to ask how the environment is arranged.
Katsunori Fujii, representative of the Japan Council of Persons with Disabilities, who has continued to make requests for improvements to the voting environment, said, "There are many hurdles before voting. I would like the whole country to work together to make it easier for everyone to vote, even if they have to vote."
Prior to the House of Councilors election last summer, NHK set up a special website called "Everyone's Election" to disseminate information on specific support measures for persons with disabilities in elections and initiatives in each region. We are soliciting comments from
NHK everyone's election
We've put together some useful information about voting for people with disabilities.
If you have any trouble with voting or want to improve, please send us your opinions from this site.