Hearing and the Vote: Discrimination in Jersey
Professor Claire de Than, chair of the Jersey Law Commission, hit the nail on the head in her piece in the JEP:
Let us take the example of the right to vote from home in Jersey by an officer of the Greffe visiting your home to enable you to cast your vote. It is admirable that Jersey allows for this, since it provides access to voting for those who might otherwise be unable to do so because of illness or disability. However, the procedure falls just short of the inclusion it seeks to achieve.
Those who wish to vote in this way are required to complete a form requesting pre-poll home visit. They have to provide a contact telephone number on this form, even if they have no way of using a telephone because of a disability, such as being deaf.
Further, there is nowhere in the form that they can state that they cannot use a telephone, and people who cannot complete the form are also instructed to telephone for assistance.
This form seems to be designed only for those who can use the audio functions of a telephone without difficulty. However, forms like this (and all policies and procedures) should be inclusive by design.
Those in charge of creating them should consider, on the basis of evidence, the ‘who ‘, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of inclusive thinking: who might have difficulty complying with what we are asking them to do; why are we asking them to do it that way; and thus how should we modify our procedures in order to enable them to participate and uphold their rights?
Professor Claire de Than, chair of the Jersey Law Commission, hit the nail on the head in her piece in the JEP:
Let us take the example of the right to vote from home in Jersey by an officer of the Greffe visiting your home to enable you to cast your vote. It is admirable that Jersey allows for this, since it provides access to voting for those who might otherwise be unable to do so because of illness or disability. However, the procedure falls just short of the inclusion it seeks to achieve.
Those who wish to vote in this way are required to complete a form requesting pre-poll home visit. They have to provide a contact telephone number on this form, even if they have no way of using a telephone because of a disability, such as being deaf.
Further, there is nowhere in the form that they can state that they cannot use a telephone, and people who cannot complete the form are also instructed to telephone for assistance.
This form seems to be designed only for those who can use the audio functions of a telephone without difficulty. However, forms like this (and all policies and procedures) should be inclusive by design.
Those in charge of creating them should consider, on the basis of evidence, the ‘who ‘, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of inclusive thinking: who might have difficulty complying with what we are asking them to do; why are we asking them to do it that way; and thus how should we modify our procedures in order to enable them to participate and uphold their rights?
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