Robert Brown backs Make it Count

12.00.00am GMT Thu 6th Dec 2007

Glasgow Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown has called for the Scottish Office and Scottish Government to take proper and full account of the problems faced by those suffering from sight loss at future Scottish Parliamentary and General Elections.

Launching the RNIB report, Make it Count, at a Conference in Edinburgh, Mr. Brown - who is chair of the Cross Party Group on Visual Impairment in the Scottish Parliament - backed the call for the appointment of a Chief Retuning Officer for Scotland to ensure consistency and accessibility for blind people across Scotland.

A Chief Returning Officer would ensure consistent good practice in ballot design and production, accessibility at polling stations, training and information for voters, and arrangements for the postal vote right across the country.

Robert Brown has also tabled a motion at the Scottish Parliament calling on the Government to involve organisations like the RNIB more closely in future arrangements for elections.

The RNIB report states that blind and partially sighted people experienced real difficulties at the Scottish Parliamentary and Council elections in May due to the ballot paper design (due to the font size and colour contrast), poor lighting at polling stations, and the variable nature of the assistance available to blind people at polling stations.

Robert Brown said:

"Most of the attention given to the problems at the Scottish Elections has been around the high number of spoilt ballots for voters more generally. RNIB Scotland's valuable report highlights the substantial additional difficulties faced by blind and partially sighted people.

"The ballot paper design seems to have resulted in reducing the font size on the ballot paper, some of the Party emblems on the ballot paper being smudged, and the lack of sharp contrasts in the colours was also unhelpful to people with sight problems.

"RNIB guidelines are clear that black on white gives the best visibility for people with sight problems.

"We live in an age when voter turnout at elections is falling across the Western world, not just in Scotland. We must at least make sure that voting is as comfortable and convenient a process as possible for willing voters with sight problems.

"It is an urgent requirement of any democracy that all its citizens should be able to cast an effective vote in a manner suited to their needs. Next time, the voting arrangements must be much improved and must guarantee an easily manageable vote to people with sight difficulties."

Ends

Notes for the editor:

Recommendations from RNIB Scotland's Report included:

a. Support for a Chief Returning Officer for Scotland, with a single administration

b. A return to the two separate ballot papers for the Scottish Parliament Ballot

c. That better training is provided to polling centre staff, as well as the polling stations being lit effectively to provide better layout and lighting for people with sight loss