Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-01.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the number and proportion of visually impaired voters who receive election communication in a format they can understand.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that Returning Officers (ROs) are responsible for issuing election-related communications such as poll cards and postal voting statements which must, by law, contain information telling the recipient what to do if they need the information provided in a different format. It is for ROs, in discharging their duties, to identify how best to meet the needs of individuals in their area who are visually impaired. The Commission has made no assessment of the numbers of voters who receive information from ROs in their preferred format.

The Commission also informs me that it ensures that its public information campaigns are accessible to those with visual impairments, and that the voter registration and information materials it produces are available in a variety of formats including Braille and Easy Read. The Commission has written to the RNIB, following the evidence they gave to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee on 1 May, to offer to meet to discuss what else could be done to help ensure that those with visual impairments can register and vote.