RNIB calls for everyone to have the right to vote in secret
In the 2019 General Election, only 13% of blind and partially sighted people felt they could vote independently and in secret. The campaign has been created in response to the insight that most blind and partially sighted people have to be assisted by a companion or polling staff member to read or mark their vote on the ballot paper, which can leave voters feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Reliable solutions with audio elements or combining audio and tactile do exist, but they just haven’t been rolled out nationwide. The film calls for these solutions to be made widely available, so every blind and partially sighted person can exercise their right to an independent, secret vote.
The fictional film aims to place sighted people into the shoes of blind and partially sighted people. It takes a tongue in cheek approach to show how sighted members of the public might react to the appearance of cameras in voting booths. The film features a woman who, when voting, is met by a large-scale camera. The camera provides commentary on her voting – asserting the point that sighted people wouldn’t like losing their right to vote in secrecy any more than blind and partially sighted people do.
The need for change is more urgent now than ever before. The fact that the election was called with six weeks’ notice makes it especially difficult for blind and partially sighted people to contact electoral authorities to request the specific adaptations they need – which are requests that may or may not be granted.
GOOD’s Executive Creative Director Bryn Attewell says “It’s incredibly important that we all have the same degree of secrecy when exercising our right to vote. But sadly, if you’re blind or partially sighted, you often have to have someone with you to put your cross down, so that secrecy is compromised. With this campaign we wanted to raise awareness of the issue, but also put people in the shoes of those with sight loss – after all, you wouldn’t like it if someone was watching you vote, would you?”
Martin Wingfield, RNIB’s Director of Brand says “It’s been over 150 years since people have had the right to vote in secret, but this still isn’t afforded to many of the 2 million blind and partially sighted people who still face significant barriers to voting independently.
“With this fictional film, we wanted to highlight what it feels like for people with sight loss to vote. You wouldn’t want someone watching you vote. But that’s often the reality for blind and partially sighted people. RNIB is calling for this to be last election that blind and partially sighted people can’t vote in secret and to resolve this once and for all.”
