Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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784. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will make it mandatory that all polling stations and polling booths are fully accessible for all persons. [6878/16]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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Under electoral law, returning officers are responsible for all matters in relation to the conduct of elections, including the provision of polling stations and polling booths within those stations. The Electoral Act 1992 provides that local authorities, in making polling schemes, shall endeavour to appoint polling places where at least one polling station is accessible to wheelchair users and requires that the returning officer shall, where practicable, provide polling stations which are accessible to wheelchair users. The returning officer must, where practicable, give public notice of all polling stations which are inaccessible to wheelchair users, not later than eight days before polling day. If an elector considers that he or she might have difficulty gaining access to a polling station, he or she may apply in writing to the returning officer for authorisation to vote at another polling station in the same constituency or local electoral area. In addition, the returning officer is required to put in place arrangements at each polling station to facilitate the marking and placing in the ballot box of ballot papers by voters who may be wheelchair users.

While I have no immediate plans to change these provisions in the electoral Acts or to make it mandatory that all polling stations and booths are fully accessible to all persons, my Department will continue , in co-operation with returning officers, local authorities and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform , to seek to improve voting facilities for all voters.

In this regard, my Department issues guidance to returning officers in advance of elections and referendums. The guidance advises returning officers when selecting buildings to be used as polling stations, that consideration should be given to accessibility issues and the needs of voters with a range of disabilities. Returning Officers have also been advised, where possible, to use more recently built premises as these are likely to have been built to more exacting standards of accessibility under Building Regulations.

The guidance also provides information on accessible voting in the form of an accessibility checklist. The most recent checklist – that was used at the Dáil election on 26 February 2016 and which was drawn up in consultation with the National Disability Authority (NDA) and the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) - was developed using the NDA publication Building for Everyone – a Universal Design Approach and the IWA publication Designing Accessible Environments for All. While the checklist does not constitute a legal interpretation of any statutory provision, it provides returning officers with a general guide on the issues that should be considered in planning for and checking the accessibility of polling stations.

In relation to polling booths, the guidance advises returning officers to provide at each polling station an appropriate table and chair, located in such a position as to ensure secrecy in voting, at which electors such as wheelchair users, persons with a physical disability or the elderly can mark their ballot papers if they find it more convenient. Returning Officers are advised to consider, where feasible, the installation of a low height voting compartment to facilitate voters who use wheelchairs or those who are short of stature.

If a person has a physical illness or physical disability which prevents him or her from going to the polling station, the person can vote by post if he or she applies to be included in the postal voters list which is drawn up each year as part of the register of electors. In order to be entered on the postal voters list, the person must apply to the appropriate local authority by 25 November each year. After that date, an application for inclusion in the supplement to the postal voters list may be made.