15/12/23

Cardiff Council's Paul Orders has become the UK's first local authority chief executive to become an Accessible Voting Champion.

Mr Orders is the Returning Officer for all elections held in Cardiff and by becoming an Accessible Voting Champion with UK disability charity United Response, has pledged to help make voting and elections more accessible for people with disabilities and autism in the city.

My Vote My Voice is a national campaign to help end inaccessible voting for underrepresented communities developed by United Response, Dimensions, Mencap, Ambitious About Autism and the people who draw on their support and care.

After taking up the role of Returning Officer in 2019 and as part of the Council's commitment to equal opportunities, Mr Orders has overseen the drive to improve engagement with and the accessibility of the democratic process in Cardiff.

He said: "I'm really pleased to become an Accessible Voting Champion. Cardiff Council is committed to ensuring all eligible citizens are able to register to vote and vote, and anyone who needs support with these things, is aware of the help available and can access it.

"Every voter's voice matters and every voter should have the right to make their voice heard by voting independently.

"We've done a lot of work over the past couple of years to ensure the elections we run are accessible. This has included partnering with various community groups to support citizens to register to vote and to become familiar with what happens on polling day, and assessing our polling station provision to ensure they are accessible.

"There's still more we can do to ensure people who need some support with the democratic process are aware of the assistance available and use that support. I hope making this pledge to become an Accessible Voting Champion helps to raise awareness of that help, so that no-one feels they face a barrier to being able to exercise their democratic right to vote."

Ali Gunn,Chair of the My Vote My Voice steering group, said:"We are delighted that Cardiff Council are committed to helping to end inaccessible voting. Relatively small changes would have a big impact, by mobilising learning disability and autism networks we hope to reach underrepresented communities at a scale not seen before, providing disabled people with the information, tools and support they need to exercise their democratic right to vote."

If you are involved in a community group or organisation and would like to find out more about the Council's work on accessible voting, please contactPublic Awareness Officer, Selma Abdalla by emailingSelma.abdalla@cardiff.gov.uk

To find out more about the My Vote My Voice campaign, visithttps://www.myvotemyvoice.org.uk/