Voting is one of the great privileges of living in a modern democracy. While we know there are many who choose not to exercise this fundamental human right – for various reasons known to themselves alone – there are also many who are denied the ability, or who have difficulty in, exercising that right even though they wish to do so.

When casting my ballot today I thought of the excellent campaign being run by Scope to ensure disabled voters are not denied or discriminated against in the election process: http://www.pollsapart.org.uk/

 As they say:

“At every election, thousands of disabled voters are denied the chance to play an equal part in our democracy. Scope’s ‘Polls Apart’ campaign aims to end this exclusion”.

I hope they were heartened by the link I sent to them of the award winning work on Norwegian Polling Stations which is currently being showcased at the London Design Museum:

http://www.norskdesign.no/the-design-for-all-award/blanke-ark-polling-stations-article14159-8215.html

http://www.kadabra.com/eng/projects/sdk_eng.htm

Based on a “Design for All” principle, the ‘Blanke Ark’ framework is a beautiful example of considered social design meets functionality:

“Blanke Ark employs the principles of Design for All by being a design for a wide variety of people, which means that the design provides functionality to people, regardless of age, sex, cultural background or ability”.

The ability to vote is perhaps the ultimate expression of an individuals active participation in society. No one should be denied that right – particularly not on the grounds of disability.  Here’s to design for a truly participative democracy. 

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