Supporting people to vote in the 2010 elections

The 2010 pre- election campaign saw a flurry of new manifesto pledges and advertising, with politicians using every means at their disposal to try to win votes. Some of the campaign highlights included embracing new media such as Facebook or the prime ministerial debates, three US-style live television debates, never seen before in the UK.  Yet despite this, hundreds of thousands of eligible voters with learning disabilities were in danger of being ignored. 

It is estimated that only about 16% of people with a learning disability voted at the general election in 2005. In this context, much was done to get people with a learning disability to vote this year, and it was good to see the Electoral Commission taking their equal opportunity policy seriously, and paying for a lot of it.

CHOICES CARE supported and encouraged the people who use our services to vote. Our   managers worked together with service users and their families, to open up the democratic process and make it easier for them to understand information and have a truly inclusive election this year.

One of the election highlights across our services was the attendance of Kaukab Stewart, SNP candidate for South West Edinburgh, to a service user involvement meeting in one of our Edinburgh services.

Kaukab Stewart arrived at the house just after 5pm and was greeted by Leslie; thereafter she was introduced to all other service users and staff members.

The meeting started at 6pm, and was chaired by Douglas, who greeted everyone and warmly welcomed their special guest to their home.

All residents took part in the event, and used it as an opportunity to call for free train services for people with a learning disability in Scotland.

Candidate Kaukab Stewart was very participative and offered to facilitate a room in Edinburgh City Chambers, where the residents could hold their next meeting.

The meeting was closed with an accordion performance by David to celebrate Douglas's birthday.

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