BackPreceding the European Parliament elections on 23 and 24 May 2014 employees of the Polish Human Rights Defender Office conducted 158 visits in polling stations, adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. The control function was carried out in 23 cities in order to verify the extent to which they are tailored to the needs of this defavourized group.
The audit showed shortcomings in 113 venues, which represent more than 72% of all visited polling stations.
Employees of the Office also controlled the direct surrounding of the polling stations. The current findings suggest that even the best-adapted stations are difficult to access for people with disabilities, because of various and numerous obstacles.
The Human Rights Defender forwarded the results of the inspection to the competent state authorities with a request to take appropriate actions to protect the voting rights of people with disabilities.
Source: Human Rights Defender of Poland, POLAND
