India is one of the world’s largest parliamentary democracies and right to vote as an important right has been accorded to every citizen of the nation once they turn major. Since, the main idea underlying the term ‘democracy’ is the creation of a form of government which is made by the people and more importantly for the people, it is important that equal opportunity to vote is provided to every citizen of the country. The sole objective of the democratic form of government is to remove all forms of social and economic inequalities and entail accessibility when it comes to casting votes and thus the persons with intellectual disabilities must also be made a part of the voting procedure.
The Election Commission of India on its official website provides that the voters having any of the 21 disabilities laid down under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 are termed as voters with disabilities. The Commission further provides that every citizen of India with disability who has attained the age of 18 years is eligible to be registered as a voter in the electrical rolls of the area of the constituency of which he or she is a resident. An Assured Minimum Facility is also provided to them at the polling stations which include the help desk, polling booth at the ground floor, obstacle free paths, accessible toilets and separate entry/exit. Apart from this, wheelchairs, braille embossed voting machines and requisite volunteers are also to be provided. However, there is no mention of persons with intellectual disabilities. The Commission is silent on assistive facilities to be provided to the persons with learning disabilities or autism. Therefore, the question remains, “How will the persons with intellectual disabilities cast their vote?”
Before we delve into the aforementioned question we first need to understand the meaning of the term ‘intellectual disability.’ The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities, 2006 does not define the term intellectual disability per se, but rather talks about it as an outcome of the interaction between an impairment and the environment. In India, the law relating to the rights of the persons with disabilities i.e. The Persons with the Disabilities Act, 2016 under its Schedule mentions that intellectual disability includes a disability in the intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem solving) and in adaptive behaviour (every day, social and practical skills, including specific learning disabilities) and autism spectrum disorder. Specific Learning Disability means the condition where there is a deficit in processing language, or difficulty to comprehend, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations and also includes perceptual disabilities, while Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neuro-developmental condition that appears in the first three years of the life of a person. It affects a person’s ability to communicate, understand relationships and relate to others.
Addressing the need for the right to vote for the persons with intellectual disabilities it is to be remembered that it is exigent for any democratic nation to usher all the citizens with identical and uniform opportunities so that they are placed at the same footing when it comes to exercising and enjoying political rights. The political participation of the persons with intellectual disabilities can be ensured only when there are certain changes incorporated in the institutional as well as structural levels. In this respect the author would like to highlight the following points:
l As per Section 16(1)(b)of the Representation of People Act, 1950 an intellectually disabled person with severe form of disability shall be disqualified from voting as they are of unsound mind. Under the Indian law, there is no test to determine the mental capacity of a person in relation to the right to vote. The only disqualification is that a person with unsound mind cannot vote. However,, the terms ‘unsoundness of mind’ and ‘intellectual disability’ are not to be used synonymously, since the former is a legal finding while the latter is a cognitive impairment. There is a lack of ability to comprehend the efficacy of the right to vote in case of intellectual disability. Thus, the persons with severe Autism or learning disability cannot cast their vote since they are intellectually impaired. However, the persons with mild autism or down syndrome or specific learning disability have a right to cast their vote since they can comprehend and make the right judgement. Their vote can be treated as a fair vote as they enjoy an unhindered sense of judgement to make a choice while casting their vote. However, the Election Commission remains silent on this. It is hereby the need of hour that bifurcation is made between the mild and severe forms of intellectual disabilities so as to enable them to cast their vote.
l The officials who are entrusted with the election duties must be properly trained so as to ensure that they can cater to the requirements of the intellectually disabled and facilitate their registration in the electoral rolls and further to cast a vote. The Election Commission of India during the elections had directed that a postal ballot facility shall be provided to the persons with disabilities and the entire process of voting shall also be video graphed in order to ensure a “free and fair” elections. The Election Commissioner of India, Mr. Rajiv Kumar, while making the announcement had said, “For the first time in these elections, without compromising the secrecy of the vote, the facility of voting will be at the comfort of their home.”
l Special Polling Stations need to be set up for the persons with intellectual disabilities and the voting process should be simplified for them in a proper manner. Apart from this the locations of such polling stations must also be made accessible. In the year 2015, the Honourable Prime Minister had launched the Accessible India Campaign with the vision of creating a barrier free environment for the independent living of the persons with disability. However, the campaign is silent about providing accessibility to the intellectually disabled in the elections. Thus, in order to provide accessibility in the elections, changes must be incorporated.
l Proper measures must be taken to make use of assistive technology in the most efficient manner by all the officials who are given the responsibility to conduct elections, and they must be well informed about the various means of technology that are there to support the needs of the intellectually disabled.
l Lastly, in order to enable the persons with intellectual disabilities to vote and ensure their political participation in the country, it is important that they are given proper education through literacy programmes. Even the family members or guardians of such persons must be made a part of such programmes. There is a dire need to hold awareness campaigns whereby information on accessible and informative elections is given to all the people residing in the country. Moreover, pictorial means can be resorted to so as to enable the specially abled to understand and comprehend the importance of right to vote, in short their political rights.
India as a country is inhabited with various cultures and embedded with diversity, the sense of unity and integrity becomes a factor which needs to be achieved in all respects. If the right to be a part of electoral processes or for that matter any field is denied to even one citizen the country fails as a whole.
The author is Assistant Professor of Law, University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Panjab University, Chandigarh.
