“For me it is very important to vote in the European elections”
Click here for the easy-to-read version
The European elections in May are our topic of the year 2019!
We are talking about how to make voting accessible for people with intellectual disabilities and family members – and why it is important to vote!
Every month we interview one of our “Voting champions”: People who are active in reclaiming the right to vote, who talk to politicians about voting accessibility and who encourage others to cast their ballot.
Our Voting Champion in January is László Bercse.
László Bercse is a Board member of Inclusion Europe and a Steering Group member of the European Platform of Self-advocates. He works with our Hungarian member ÉFOÉSZ and has been a long-standing activist for the right to vote and accessibility in all aspects of the elections process.
You yourself have the right to vote. But you know people who cannot vote. Can you tell me more about them?
If someone in Hungary is being placed under guardianship, the court also decides whether this person can keep their right to vote. Most people who are under guardianship also lose their right to vote.
I know self-advocates who are very sad because they are not allowed to vote. At a self-advocates’ conference one of them said: “It feels like we are not as important as others. I feel like a secondary citizen.”
Another self-advocate said: “I am really looking forward to the moment when I can go voting and have a say in what happens to me in the future.”
When you go voting, what are the things that are already working well?
It is a step forward that people can ask the National Election Office to send them an easy-to-read letter about how to vote at the elections.
And what kind of problems do you encounter?
What we really miss is easy-to-read manifestos of the different political parties. If they wrote such manifestos, it would be easier for us to be informed and decide who we want to vote for. We would also need easy-to-read voting-papers.
ÉFOÉSZ just finished an easy-to-read booklet about the European elections. What topics does the booklet talk about?
I think it is a very useful booklet! It explains in an easy-to-read format: What is the European Parliament? Why are European elections important? How to vote? What do we expect from candidates if they get elected?
One of our expectations is that all people with an intellectual disability can exercise their right to vote. We need support for voting instead of taking this right away from us. With our self-advocacy group, we have discussed the subject of voting rights many times. I also told my opinion on that matter. At the end it was my fellow self-advocate, Ilona Sallai, who gathered self-advocates’ opinion and put them in the booklet.
You can read the booklet in Hungarian language here.
ÉFOÉSZ in doing a campaign on the limited voting rights for people with intellectual disabilities. What does ÉFOÉSZ want to achieve with the campaign? How are you involved?
We have started the campaign at the end of last year. With this campaign we want to convince politicians to give the right to vote to all people with intellectual disability. We want to raise awareness with others that the current situation is not fair, because people with intellectual disabilities are citizens just like anyone else. We use social media and also mainstream media to talk about this topic. We also organise conferences and discussions on voting rights, and we are constantly addressing the subject with politicians. I take part in organising the events and provide training for self-advocates. I speak to the media on the subject regularly.
Why is it important for you to vote at the European elections?
For me it is very important to vote at the European elections. I care about who is going to represent me in the European Parliament. I would like the European Parliament to make decisions which are good for me and for other people with disabilities.
Read Inclusion Europe’s election manifesto
Find out more about how to make elections accessible
Easy-to-read version
Click on a word which is in bold to read what it means.
“For me it is very important to vote at the European elections”
The European Elections will be in May 2019.
This year Inclusion Europe
will talk about how to make
voting accessible for
people with intellectual disabilities.
We will also talk about
why it is important to vote.
Every month we talk with one of our “voting champions”.
Voting champions are people who
talk about the right to vote for people under guardianship.
They also want governments to make voting accessible
for people with intellectual disabilities.
Our voting champion in January is László Bercse.
He is a member of Inclusion Europe and of EPSA.
László works with our Hungarian member ÉFOÉSZ.
He wants accessible elections
for people with intellectual disabilities.
We asked László some questions.
You have the right to vote.
But you know many people who cannot vote.
Can you tell me more about it?
In Hungary, when you are
under guardianship
a judge can take away
your right to vote.
I know many people under guardianship
who do not have the right to vote.
I know self-advocates who are sad
because they cannot vote.
I met a self-advocate at a conference.
He said that he feels like he is less important
than other people, because he cannot vote.
Another self-advocate said
that he really wants to vote
because his vote can make a difference
for people with intellectual disabilities.
When you go to vote,
what are the things that work well?
When we have elections in Hungary,
we can ask to the government
to send us an easy-to-read letter
on how to vote.
This is a good thing.
When you go to vote,
what are the problems that you find?
We need easy-to-read information
on the different political parties.
With easy-to-read information
people with intellectual disabilities
can decide who they want to vote for.
We also need easy-to-read voting papers.
ÉFOÉSZ wrote an easy-to-read document
about European elections.
What does this document talk about?
I think it is a very good document!
It explains many things
in easy-to-read:
- What is the European Parliament?
- Why are the European elections important?
- How can you vote?
- How can politicians help us if they get elected?
We want all people with intellectual disabilities
to be able to vote.
We want to be supported when we go to vote.
With our self-advocacy group
we talk a lot about the right to vote
for people with intellectual disabilities.
I gave my opinion on this topic.
Ilona Sallai added my opinion on this topic
to the document we wrote.
She is a self-advocate too.
On that document she also wrote
the opinions of other self-advocates, too.
You can read the booklet in Hungarian language here.
ÉFOÉSZ is doing a campaign
on the right to vote
for people with intellectual disabilities.
Why are you doing it?
What do you do for this campaign?
We started the campaign at the end of 2018.
With this campaign
we want to ask politicians
to give the right to vote
to people with intellectual disabilities.
We want to tell other people
that people with intellectual disabilities
are like everyone else.
And they should have the right to vote.
We use social media to talk about this topic.
We organise conferences on the right to vote
and we talk to politicians about it.
We talk to the media
and we organise events and trainings
for self-advocates.
Why is it important for you
to vote at the European elections?
For me it is important
to vote at the European elections
because I care about
who represents me in the European Parliament.
I want the European Parliament
to make decisions which are good for me
and for other people with disabilities.