Electoral Participation by People with Disabilities: Peru Case Study

Electoral Participation by People with Disabilities
Peru Case Study
Vol. 2, Paper 3
July, 2001

"To be able to participate as an electoral observer in the electoral process of a country is an interesting experience, and as a person with a disability it represents a greater challenge. Most people think that we cannot play an important role in the electoral process; the will to want to do it enhances the commitment. In this experience, I began early in the morning by receiving the observation forms and headed to the pre-selected polling sites where I identified myself as a member of Transparencia. I received gestures of support and perceived doubts. Some poll-workers arrived to their posts very annoyed by the responsibilities that were called on to them to carry out, but when noticing my presence some commented: if you are here and in a wheelchair, what am I complaining about? It is the first time in Peru's elections that we have the opportunity to participate as observers." Maria Nelly Novoa Bellota.

Ms. Maria Nelly Novoa Bellota of Lima, was one of 307 citizens with disabilities trained to serve as an election observer on April 8, and again on June 3, when Peruvians went to the polls to choose a new President and Parliament.

These observers demonstrated that citizens with disabilities have much to offer society. Rather than conforming to the negative stereotype that people with disabilities are a burden on society, these citizens with disabilities worked alongside their non-disabled peers on Election Day to build in Peru a society based on strong, transparent democratic institutions.

The work of the observers with disabilities was the cornerstone of a multifaceted campaign in the months leading up to the April and June 2001 Elections, to promote the electoral and political enfranchisement of citizens with disabilities in Peru.

The core of the IFES disability intervention in Peru was the provision of technical and financial assistance to Aproddis (Asociacion Pro Desarrollo De La Persona Con Discapacidad), a Peruvian NGO promoting the economic and social development of Peruvians with disabilities. This project is part of a global initiative by IFES to promote the political and electoral enfranchisement of citizens with disabilities, a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

IFES also worked to build strong partnerships between Aproddis and other Peruvian civil society and electoral organizations. IFES is fortunate in Peru to have strong relations with Transparencia, the major domestic election observation organization.. Also, under a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, IFES provided considerable technical support in the months leading up to the election to ONPE (Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales) and to JNE (Jurada Nacional de Eleciones), the Peruvian election authorities.

These existing relationships helped to promote the integration of disability issues into the larger election observation effort, and into the election process itself.

These partnerships resulted in numerous advances, including the following:

Electoral Observation: Partnership Between Transparencia and Aproddis

The success of the observation effort by citizens with disabilities was due in large part to the partnership formed between Aproddis and Transparencia. As the major civil society organization undertaking domestic electoral observation, Transparencia embraced the complementary effort organized by Aproddis. Transparencia's leadership supported the joint efforts, and freed up the necessary staff time to ensure that the deployment of Aproddis observers was fully integrated into the work of Transparencia. Considerable support was provided by Transparencia staff member Claudia Alarcon.

Training and deployment of observers with disabilities occurred in twelve cities. Three seminars were held for observers who were deployed in the capital city of Lima. Seminars were also held, and observers were deployed, in the cities of Puno, Arequipa, Cuzco, Ayacucho, Huancayo, Trujillo, Piura, Cajamarca, Huaraz, Huanuco, and Iquitos.

In addition to working with Transparencia, Aproddis also relied heavily on the expertise and network of Luis Miguel de Aguila, the Vice President of CONFENADIP (Confederacion de Discapacitados del Peru). While CONFENADIP was not formally a part of the project, Luis Miguel's participation in the project as a consultant, and his credibility among disability organizations, was essential to the project's success, particularly in the recruitment and deployment phases. [CONFENADIP, the Peruvian affiliate of Disabled Peoples' International, could not be included as a partner in the observation project because its President publicly endorsed one of the candidates for President of Peru].

It is important to note that the observation project was conducted in more cities than originally anticipated. This was due solely to the efforts by Aproddis to secure an additional grant from the government of Canada, thus building on the IFES subgrant, which was funded by the governments of Sweden and Canada.

Also noteworthy was interest in the project from the European Union and from the US Agency for International Development. IFES consultant Jerome Mindes and Aproddis President Pedro Chavez participated in briefing sessions for international observers convened by the EU. The EU also worked with IFES to add two disability questions to their observation forms. The head of the EU mission, Swedish parliamentarian Eva Zetterberg, expressed keen interest in the disability project, and included a positive assessment of ONPE's efforts in her post-election report. Interest and participation was also evident from the United States Agency for International Development, which hosted a post-election "lessons learned" briefing session on April 10. This session was attended by representatives of Transparencia, Defensoria del Pueblo, USAID, IFES, and Peruvian disability organizations.

Materials and Information in Accessible Format:

-- Election observation manuals and forms developed by Transparencia were translated by Aproddis into Braille and audio cassette format, making them accessible to citizens with visual impairments. The election day observation form was also modified to include disability specific elements. These materials, printed with funds from IFES with funds from Sweden and Finland, have already been made available to disability groups in Nicaragua, and will be of great value to the Spanish-speaking world.

-- A Braille ballot template was made available at every voting station, allowing at least some voters with visual impairments to vote independently, without the need of assistance. This extended the right to a secret ballot to these voters for the very first time, and promoted greater confidence in the electoral system. The Braille ballot template was designed by ONPE, with assistance from the Peru Association of the Blind. It was funded in part by IFES, under a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This Braille ballot template has already been shared with disability and election organizations in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nicaragua, and Bangladesh.

[It should be noted that according the Peru Association for the Blind , only about 5 to 10 percent of Peruvians who are blind are literate and read Braille. This same statistics holds true for Nicaragua, where 2,000 of about 50,000 blind adults read Braille. Based on these statistics, a more inclusive approach would be to develop a ballot sleeve or template that used tactile impressions, rather than Braille. IFES will work in future projects to pilot test such a ballot device.]

ONPE Efforts: Voter Education and Poll Worker Training

The leadership of ONPE should be commended for their efforts to address disability issues. While voters with disabilities faced many physical barriers on Election Day, it seemed to numerous observers that they faced few attitudinal barriers.

Through leadership and example, public education, and poll worker training, ONPE created a welcoming environment at polling stations throughout the country. Key to this effort was ONPE's commitment to look for advice and guidance from Aproddis and other disability groups.

Voters disabilities with also benefited from an elections process in which most voting tables are responsible for processing fewer then 200 voters. This results in shorter lines of voters waiting to vote, making it easier for elderly or physically disabled voters.

The following highlights some of the election-related initiatives in which ONPE, IFES, and/or Aproddis took part:

-- A television public service announcement (PSA) and two radio messages on the voting rights of citizens with disabilities was produced by ONPE in conjunction with Aproddis and the Defensoria del Pueblo, (the public ombudsman). The television PSA was transmitted to eight national channels three times per week until April 6th, reaching a minimum of several hundreds of thousands of Peruvians, educating the general public - including voters, poll workers, party agents, election day security, and people with disabilities -- about the rights of voters with disabilities. Many disability advocates credit the PSAs with the perceived high turn-out of voters with disabilities, and with the positive treatment which many experienced at the polls.

-- Poll worker training on disability issues was conducted by representatives of Peruvian disability organizations, and resulted in more respect and greater accommodations for voters with disabilities. In all, Aproddis teams traveled to twelve cities (the same twelve in which there were observers with disabilities) to conduct training seminars for ONPE coordinators. Each seminar covered basic statistics on people with disabilities, and materials were distributed on voting rights and electoral access. In all, a total of 2,118 ONPE coordinators were training, including 1,220 in Lima and 989 in the outlying cities.

In fact, poll worker training led to several key "ad hoc" advances in addressing the physical inaccessibility of polling stations. For example:

-- Rather than carrying an elderly or disabled voter up two or more flights of stairs to their voting table, several observers noted that the poll workers would hand-carry all of the polling materials - ballots, registry, ink jar, etc. - to a ground floor location so the voter could vote in an accessible area, in private, in secret, and with dignity.

-- Numerous voters with disabilities reported that they were treated with respect on Election Day by the poll workers. Many Peruvian election observers also noted that they had never seen so many voters with disabilities as on this Election Day.

-- The returning officer at one polling place worked with military guards to destroy two locks in a steel door of a school courtyard. The locks were preventing the door from being fully opened, leaving a passage way too narrow for wheelchairs to enter. Once widened, three citizens in wheelchairs entered to vote and/or observe, without the need for further assistance.

-- A public education campaign informed voters with mobility impairments that by calling a special number at ONPE they could request that their voting table be on the ground floor. (See poster at left). Unfortunately, the campaign was not launched until just two weeks before the election, and was used by only a small number of voters.

-- A sign-language interpreter was available and visible during nationally-televised broadcasts by ONPE of Election night results.

-- Posters on the rights of votes with disabilities were developed by ONPE, with assistance from disability groups. These posters were displayed at all polling stations throughout the country. The posters have been shared with disability and election groups in Bangladesh and Nicaragua.

Shortcomings: Areas for Future Focus

There were, of course, examples where the electoral process was not accessible to citizens with disabilities.

Elderly and disabled voters, particularly in large cities, had to contend with voting tables placed on the second, third, and even fourth floor of buildings. Many individuals with mobility problems were either carried or had to struggle up flights of stairs to vote. Some voters with disabilities were altogether disenfranchised. For example, no accommodations or special voting methods were available to individuals in hospitals on election day, nor was there any way to vote for those too disabled to leave home.

Polling place accessibility can be addressed in several ways. For example, ONPE could make a commitment to have only ground-floor polling tables. At many two-story schools, for example, this could be accomplished by consolidating two polling stations into one. This would expand the number of voters per table to approximately 250, still an acceptable and manageable number, and far below the average number of voters per table in other countries. ONPE could also place community voting tables at places where people with disabilities regularly congregate, such as rehabilitation centers, or schools for the blind or deaf. It would be ideal if such sites were open to all in the community, and not established in such a way as to segregate citizens with disabilities.

Efforts also need to be made to enfranchise citizens who are unable to reach the polling stations. Mobile voting teams could visit hospitals, and could also visit the homes of citizens who make such a request to the election authorities. Voting tables could also be set up in hospitals.

In the weeks prior to the Election, many citizens with intellectual disabilities were informed that they faced a year-long waiting period before they could apply for citizen identification cards, thus rendering them totally disenfranchised from the voting process. Several organizations -- notably Centro Ann Sullivan, a Lima-based private school for the developmentally disabled, and the Defensoria del Pueblo - pushed this issue with the National Civil Registry (RENIEC: Registro Nacional de Indentificacion y Estado Civil). As in many nations, Peruvian civil registration and election agencies would benefit from training on the rights of individuals with intellectual disability and mental illness. Their rights as citizens are in many nations simply ignored.

Deaf citizens were often cut off from public information campaigns. Efforts need to be made to work closely with associations of the deaf to identify effective ways of reaching this constituency.

By working collaboratively with the disability community in Peru during the 2001 Elections, ONPE has proven that it has the will to address these important issues. In fact, plans are already underway for ONPE and Aproddis to work together to provide training in advance of future elections at the municipal level in Peru.

Conclusion

The April 2001 Elections in Peru were planned and implemented under extremely difficult circumstances. The caretaker government was coping with unending public revelations about the corruption of former office holders. The federal election agency, ONPE, was gutted and re-staffed with an entirely new workforce, barely in place by the beginning of the calendar year. Technical assistance from USAID and other donors was also not in place until the final few months prior to Election Day.

Under such conditions, it would not have been a surprise had ONPE simply ignored the rights of voters with disabilities, claiming it was already over-extended.

To the contrary, ONPE's leadership clearly viewed electoral access as part of its mandate. As a result, many advances were made, and the foundation was laid for future collaboration toward a more accessible election process.

In this effort it is important to recognize the significant work over the past years of the Defensoria de Pueblo (the public ombudsman). In the two years prior to the 2001 elections, this office documented and disseminated excellent reports on the need for electoral reform that recognizes the rights of voters with disabilities. Many of the specific achievements of ONPE, IFES, and Aproddis during the 2001 elections were issues and ideas that had been previously advanced by the Ombudsman. To build upon these advances, it will be necessary for ONPE to continue to work in partnership with the Peruvian disability community, welcoming their ideas and suggestions on how to extend the reach of democracy to all Peruvian citizens.