Making Democracy Accessible

Here is an excerpt from our press release about Making Democracy Accessible:

Politicians must make democracy more accessible, says learning disability charity, United Response

With a general election imminent, the national learning disability charity, United Response, is launching a set of guides – Making Democracy Accessible - to help politicians, party workers and public officials communicate more effectively with the thousands of people with learning disabilities, who are currently not using their vote.

People with learning disabilities have the same right to vote as everyone else, yet at present many of the 1 million adults with learning disabilities in England are not voting. Research carried out by United Response among the people it supports, shows that while 80% are registered to vote, only 16% voted in the 2005 General Election, compared with a national turnout of 61%.

Read the full press release on our website

Read more about the project on our website

Every Vote Counts! in Community Care magazine

Every Vote Counts! - the project United Response has been working on to help people with learning disabilities engage with the democratic procress has been featured in Community Care magazine.

Read the article in full on Community Care's website

Every Vote Counts! website launched

With elections around the corner, we've launched the Every Vote Counts! website to make it easier for people with learning disabilities to use their vote and have their say.

The website, www.everyvotecounts.org.uk has been built in consultation with people with learning disabilities. It is part of the three year Every Vote Counts! campaign launched by us, and funded by the Electoral Commission. It is designed to open up the democratic process to the thousands of people with learning disabilities in England who are currently missing out on the opportunity to vote.

We hope the Every Vote Counts! website will make the democratic process more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Using pictures, easy to understand words and audio, the site provides information on how politics works, how it affects people's lives and how people can get involved and register their opinion.

It also includes a section where users can feedback on their own experiences of using the website, contributing to its ongoing development as well as the option to register to receive updates as new features are added. The site is continuing to be user tested with people with learning disabilities, so it can be as accessible to as many people as possible.

Read the full press release on our website

Every Vote Counts! pack launched

We have launched free multimedia tool to engage people with learning disabilities in the democratic process.

With European Parliamentary elections this June and a UK general election just around the corner, we have made a pack to make the democratic process more accessible to the thousands of people with learning disabilities in England.

The pack has been made as part of the three year project Every Vote Counts! which is funded by the Electoral Commission.

The CD and booklet helps people with learning disabilities and their support workers to engage more with politics. It covers everything from why politics is important, to how to support someone to lobby their MP or to join a local action group.

Research carried out by United Response, as part of the project, revealed that while 80% of people with learning disabilities supported by the charity are registered to vote, only 16% participated in the last general election. This compares with 61% turnout across the nation as a whole.

Read the full press release about the pack launch on United Response's website

Go to the Every Vote Counts! website to order your pack

Every Vote Counts

Our project looking at the voting system, politics and people with learning disabilities was featured in Guardian Society on Wednesday.

The piece highlights findings from a recent survey we carried out, looking at the number of people we support who are voting and the reasons for non-participation.

The survey highlights that while 80% of people supported by United Response are registered to vote, only 16% took part in their last local elections and 20% in the last general elections. The complexity of the the voting system, a lack of accessible information and a dearth of training for councillors, MPs and other political stakeholders, were all highlighted by United Response support workers as key barriers to participation.

Isabel Ros Lopez, UR First Manager, was interviewed by The Guardian about the project. She said:

"People with learning disabilities are citizens too, and we have a social duty and legal responsibility to enable them to take part in the democratic process. The fact that we are not achieving this is a social failure."

Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, said:

"Political decisions affect the lives of people with learning disabilities in the same way as they affect everyone else - more so in many cases - and yet they continue to be some of the most disenfranchised people in society."

Here's the link to the article http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/30/learningdisability