Victory for people with intellectual disabilities in Spain: The campaign of our member Plena Inclusión was successfulClick here for the easy-to-read version
How can you make politicians listen to you if you are not allowed to vote? The right to vote is a basic right of every citizen. Unfortunately, many European countries including Spain have so far deprived people with intellectual disabilities of this right due to laws that do not grant them legal capacity.
Our member Plena Inclusión co-organised a campaign in February after the Spanish Constitutional Court had declined a request from a family to allow their daughter, Mara, to vote. The campaign requesting a change of the current law was supported by Inclusion Europe.
Plena Inclusión has now shared the news that the process for revising the current General Electoral Regime Law (LOREG) has been started by the Spanish Parliament – the decision was taken unanimously. The legislative initiative will hopefully nullify certain sections of the current law and therefore give 100,000 Spanish people their right to vote.
Plena Inclusión celebrates that “the foundations” have been set to “end what is probably the most flagrant discrimination” of citizens with intellectual disabilities in Spain. Inclusion Europe wholeheartedly shares the excitement about these good news: We would like to congratulate Plena Inclusión on their successful advocacy work and hope that the new law will be adopted as quickly as possible.
Other European countries should take the Spanish case as an example and abolish similar laws that discriminate against people with intellectual disabilities. States should also make sure that accessible, easy-to-read information on the elections is widely available.
Easy-to-read version
Click on a word which is in bold to read what it means.
How can you make politicians listen to you if you are not allowed to vote?
The right to vote is a basic right of every citizen.
But in many European countries like Spain
people with intellectual disabilities cannot vote.
Plena Inclusión helped organize a campaign in February
after a woman with an intellectual disability called Mara
was not allowed to vote.
Plena Inclusión is an organization in Spain that fights
for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities.
Plena Inclusión is a member of Inclusion Europe.
The campaign that was organized by Plena Inclusión was
to change the law to allow people with intellectual disabilities
to vote in Spain.
Inclusion Europe supported this campaign.
Plena Inclusión has now shared the news that the Spanish Parliament
has started the process to change the law.
Everyone in the Parliament voted yes to changing the law.
This will help lots of people with intellectual disabilities vote.
This is the first step to ending something that is very discriminatory towards people
with intellectual disabilities.
Inclusion Europe is very excited about this news.
We congratulate Plena Inclusión on their work and
hope that the new law will be changed as quickly as possible.
Other countries in Europe should get rid of laws that discriminate
against people with intellectual disabilities.
Countries should also make sure that the information about elections
is accessible. [:]
