Voices of the Disabled and Disenfranchised
Open Society Foundations - United Nations
Realizing Universal Suffrage: An Interactive Discussion on Challenges to Ensuring the Right to Vote for People with Disabilities

Organizer: European Disability Forum (EDF), Human Rights Watch (HRW), Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC), Open Society Foundations (OSF)

Speakers: Pat Clarke – International Disability Alliance and EDF (moderator), Oliver Lewis – MDAC, Shantha Rau Barriga – HRW, Javier Guemes – EDF, Self advocate, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Representative from State Party delegation.

Details: Interactive discussion based on the following topics: analysis of voting rights for persons with disabilities based on examples from across the globe; analysis of why restrictions exist in some countries; advocacy strategies for challenging these restrictions; example of current advocacy to influence the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) to redraft its ‘interpretive declaration’ on the right to vote for people with disabilities in line with Article 29 of the CRPD. (29)