Reporting back: Call for Evidence: Access to Elections

As well as my work as your constituency MP, I do a role in Westminster as a government minister.

 

I wanted to share something with you from that this week. I’m the Minister for the Constitution and that means I’m responsible for how our elections work.

 

I’ve been working to improve democratic engagement by leading a call for evidence, and response report, aimed towards improving access to elections for disabled people.

 

I want to make sure our electoral system is both secure and accessible. So, the government set out to understand more about how easy or hard it is to register to vote and to cast your vote if you’re disabled, and to see what the good and bad practice is across the country. We heard lots, including about some of the procedures and mechanisms that are in place.

 

The evidence provided has been analysed in partnership with the government-chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group to produce a response report of key findings and recommended actions to improve the accessibility of elections.

 

Every voice matters and I am particularly pleased that we received responses directly from disabled people as well as from organisations. This reflects that everyone has an active interest in participation and wants their voice to be heard. The full report can be found at the below web address.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/access-to-elections-call-for-evidence

 

The report published outlines actions which are to be taken forward. It is a real privilege to me to be able to contribute nationally like this as well as being a constituency MP.

 

Today I joined Scope, the national charity which supports equality for disabled people, to thank them for their help and to talk about these plans. Scope have close links with local charities in Norwich such as Nansa, which I actively support through my work with Norwich for Jobs. If you would like more information about the great work done by Nansa you can visit their website which I have attached below.

 

http://www.nansa.org.uk/services-landing-page.aspx

 

Throughout my work both locally and nationally, I am keen to support people with disabilities to help create an open, accessible environment, so everyone can take their full part in our democracy.

 

I would like to thank everyone who got involved with the consultation and I look forward to continuing my work both locally and nationally to ensure we build on our democratic principles, creating a democracy that truly works for everyone.