Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to increase registration rates and voter turnout of (a) visually impaired voters and (b) voters with learning difficulties.

In September 2017 the Government launched a Call for Evidence to find out how people with disabilities experience registering to vote and voting itself. The government responded to this in August 2018 and is working with organisations such as the RNIB and the Royal Mencap Society in overseeing delivery of the actions contained in the Government’s response and more widely.

These actions include reviewing the online registration system, utilising opportunities to promote awareness for groups representing disabled people, such as in National Democracy Week, providing information in Easy Read format and making use of sight registers held by local authorities in England to support more and better information being made available.

Improvements in place and intended for the voting process also support participation and include improved training of polling station staff to provide better support to voters with sight loss and those who have a learning disability and consideration of options for equipment for people with disabilities to use when voting.