CIL Sofia and the parliamentary elections

in Bulgaria, 2013

Actions prior to andduring the elections:

Survey Preparing materials for disabled people Preparing materials for campaigners Inviting political parties’ representatives to

meeting with CIL members Forming civil coalition for monitoring the election

process

The Survey

• Prepared by CIL members• Distributed in the social networks, blogs, websites• Investigated 2 areas:- attitudes towards the election process- access to information

Survey results• People are willing to give their

vote

• Not satisfied with politicians’ work in the

disability sphere

- 50% say they don’t work!

- dissatisfaction with environment and transport

accessibility

- The same with education, occupation, PA

service and technical aids

- Big problem – fake votes!

PWD – vulnerable group precondition for misuse(= people sell their votes)

Survey’s 2nd part – about information on campaigns’

accessibility and usefulness

• People with visual and hearing disabilities – again discriminated

Next measure – meeting politicians

• Too few responded• Mistake – we invited them. We had to

approach them!

Mobile polling stations• Not enough information provided• Potential misuse

Civil coalition for monitoring the elections

• Different NGOs gathered with the aims to:

- initiate a dialogue with the political parties- engage the media with issues concerning PWD and

the election process- partnership with international observing organisations- ensure independent civil monitoring of the election

process

CIL Sofia participated with observers on the election day throughout the country.

Preparing materialsfor campaigners

• Guidelines for making meetings with disabled voters accessible

- exterior environment accessibility (parking, entrance)

- Interior environment accessibility (doors, floor, signs, toilets, seats, hall’s acoustics, lighting)

- Accessible information materials- Communicating with PWD (ask before you help,

sit when speaking with a wheelchair user, no need of pity expression!)

Preparing materials for disabled voters

• Leaflet ‘How to vote’- check accessibility of polling station- info about required documentation- info about voting with a PA- how to report abuse

To recap: Start planning on time Don’t leave the initiative to come from politicians’ side. You need to be insistent! Involve disabled peers into the whole process (materials

preparation, meetings with politicians, election observers) Make a survey and collect as much data as possible Try to grab media’s attention Inform PWD about their rights and about the election process (use the social media!) Inform campaigners about PWD’s issues and how they should

make the elections and their campaign accessible Search for partner organisations and together monitor the

campaign and election processes Encourage PWD to be use their civil right to vote Learn from our mistakes and do better work! Looking forward to your feedback ;-)

GOOD LUCK!!!