94% polling stations in capital lack accessibility to PWDs

Islamabad: A shocking 94% of the polling stations in Islamabad are inaccessible to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in one way or another. Maximum polling stations do not meet one or more mandatory criteria; however, 71% of such buildings can easily be made accessible with little alterations.

The above facts have become apparent in the wake of an accessibility audit of polling stations in Islamabad right before the 2018 general elections. Conducted by the Pakistan Alliance for Inclusive Elections (PAIE), the audit puts into questions, the policies of the state and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) vis-a-vis inclusiveness.

The findings reveal that 91% of the sampled polling stations have at least 3ft wide pathways leading to the main gate, whereas 54% of these approach pathways are not firm and obstacle-free. Likewise, 67% of the inner pathways from main gate to the polling area do not meet the criteria of 3ft width.

Level access to building is another mandatory criterion; results declare that in 69% polling stations, the pedestrian gates do not provide level access to the building. And of those without level access, 89% also don’t have low slope ramps. The 65% sampled polling stations in Islamabad do not meet the mandatory criterion of functional lighting at the gate. This may pose difficulties for partially blind people. In addition, display of election result outside the polling station also compels presence of light at the gate because results are often issued in the evening nearly or after the sunset.

The accessibility criteria also counts-in the entrance gate and inner doors of the polling station building to be at least (a) 32” wide and (b) the door threshold should not exceed 6mm or 1/4 of an inch. Results unfold that 24% and 50% of polling stations do not meet these two criteria, respectively. The data presents an alarming picture where 81% inner buildings are not on same level to the entrance and 93% of such buildings do not have low slope ramps as an alternative of stairs to facilitate PWDs.

Raja Shoaib Akbar, Senior Programme Manager of the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) said the purpose of this audit was to present reliable data before stakeholders and to generate debate on the concerns of PWDs about accessibility. For bringing PWDs in the mainstream, polling stations must be usable by all of them.

Shoaib Akbar shared that the accessibility audit was based on the internationally acclaimed essential accessibility criteria. A trained team of PAIE observers visited polling stations enlisted in GE 2013 and picked a scientifically drawn sample; 55 polling stations spread over length and breadth of the district were taken as sample.

According to latest data available at the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the population of PWDs in Pakistan is 3.3 million; official numbers on disability have, however, always been contested by disability rights activists. Inclusion of PWDs in the electoral process and accessibility of polling stations is vital among other procedural and administrative measures.

Keeping in view this problem, the ECP made accessibility of polling stations a part of its Second Five-Year Strategic Plan (goal 9) of 2014-18. PAIE auditors have recommended to the stakeholders to improve accessibility of polling stations. Firstly, ECP should immediately issue guidelines for accessibility of polling stations to make the general elections 2018 more inclusive. Secondly, government agencies should modify the existing infrastructure to meet minimum criteria of accessibility before elections.