Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1091272
19 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MARCH 2019 Mikiel Galea Right to vote for disabled WITH the elections for the European Parliament just round the corner, the Malta Federation of Organisations Per- sons with Disability (MFOPD) feels the need to voice its opinions and beliefs about the right to vote of persons with disability. It is a shocking fact that 500,000 EU citizens in 16 Member States, including Malta, will not be allowed to exercise this fundamental right flagged by Arti- cle 31 of the United Nations Conven- tion for the Rights of Persons with Disability (UN CRPD). Some EU Member States are slowly decreasing obstacles and restrictions on the right to vote for persons with disability being described as lacking the legal capacity to make appropri- ate decisions. For instance, in 2017 in Slovakia, the Supreme Court ruled that the law tying the right to vote to legal capacity was unconstitutional. In February 2019, it was the turn of the German Federal Constitutional Court which issued a similar decision regard- ing participation in national elections. It is a slow process, considering that such gradual steps are only taking place in too few countries. Associating the right to vote with legal capacity based on the medical assessment rather than a social one, amounts to breaching the UN CRPD decree which specifies as a right to be guaranteed that of "protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation" (Art. 31, a, ii). In actual fact, the same article even states that persons with disabilities have the right "to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government". On 6 December 2017, delegates of the 4th European Parliament of Per- sons with Disability met in Brussels and adopted a Manifesto in view of the European elections to be held coming May. Salient points of this Manifesto include the assertion of the right of persons with disability, on an equal basis with others, to fully participate as voters and/or candidates to the elec- tions. The Manifesto highlights the fact that persons with disability residing in institutions should also be guaranteed their right to vote independently. At this point, MFOPD would like to emphasize its staunch belief and campaign in favour of the availability of Personal Assistants who would be an asset to any person with disability in exercising their right to an independ- ent secret vote. As the situation stands, vulnerable persons can only be assisted by the polling station commissioners who in no way could be considered as "persons of their own choice". It is a re- ality for the Federation to have received comments from vulnerable voters complaining that they were not granted their wish to be assisted by members of their family, as people enjoying their trust, when it came to voting. Such a need is even more significant with regards to persons with intellectual disabilities who should be among those whose right to vote is not withheld. Between 23 and 26 May, hundreds of millions of European citizens will be exercising their democratic right to elect their preferred members to the European Parliament. Around half a million citizens are so far deprived of this same right just because they are persons who are deemed to lack legal capacity due to their disability. The gradual staggered improvement in this sphere results from the unified voice of civil society movements com- ing together to demand change. The Maltese political parties need not be immune to the voice of the Federation and its Organisations de- manding that they adopt policies to ensure the democratic right to vote for persons with disability in view of the State's endorsement of the UN CRPD. It is a fundamental fact that everyone, without any form of discrimination, should be able to play their significant role in shaping the future course of the European Union. The European and Social Committee report demonstrates that there are no formal obstacles to the creation of EU-level legislation that will decisively guarantee full right to vote for persons with disability when it pertains to EU Parliament elections, this being the initial step towards com- prehensive legislation within all Mem- ber States. When highlighting a fundamental right, all arguments attached to it com- prise all aspects related to the issue. Consequently, the justification of the fundamental democratic right to vote for persons with disability embraces all elections, be they European, national and local. Maria Pia Gauci, Malta Federation of Organisations For People with Disabilities Letters & Clarifications