Policy Brief: Improving the Accessibility of Voting Centres for the Visually Impaired Persons

This paper is part of a series of papers researched and authored by Research Trainees within a five-year project entitled “Towards Inclusive Participation of Vulnerable Women and People with Disabilities in the Social and Economic Life”. The project is implemented by the West Asia-North Africa Institute (WANA) and supported by the IM Swedish Development Partner. 

The project seeks to impart essential research skills and tools to male and female trainees to enable them to advocate for issues of interest to marginalised women and persons with disabilities (PwD). It culminates with the trainees drafting policy papers pertaining to social and economic issues facing these populations.

This paper discusses the challenges that hider the participation of the visually impaired persons in the elections in Jordan, which are mostly caused by the lack of accessibility and supporting voting mechanisms in the voting centres. It concludes with some practical recommendations for the relevant decision-makers and stakeholders to improve the accessibility of the centers, to encourage and foster participation.