News item | 06-05-2025 | 18:33
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Electoral Council, the Dutch Association for Civil Affairs and the Association of Dutch Municipalities have today presented the Action Plan for Votes Action Plan. This action plan has been drawn up in close collaboration with interest groups and experiential experts and must ensure that voting during elections becomes as accessible as possible for people with disabilities and people with low basic skills.
For more than 2 million Dutch people, voting independently during elections is not self -evident. People with disabilities and people with low basic skills are less positive about their experience with elections than people without disabilities or people who have more basic skills. For example, it is someone in a wheelchair, is blind or has difficulty reading.
Interior Minister Uitermark: “I think everyone should be able to vote in the elections. For some people this becomes easier if they get physical help, others benefit from more explanation or extra information. We have to support people in that, so that everyone feels involved in democracy and society.”
The action plan focuses, among other things, on accessible information about elections. For example about how voting works and what elections are about. This information must be easier to find and made suitable for people with disabilities and people with low basic skills. For example, it concerns texts in simpler language, a readable version online or information available in Dutch Sign Language.
The same applies to information from political parties and to the meetings and debates that they organize. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will discuss this with political parties to encourage them to work on this, where necessary with the support of experiential experts.
The polling station and voting
The accessibility of polling stations for people with a physical disability is also an important topic from the action plan. According to the Electoral Act, polling stations must be accessible to people with a physical disability. Nevertheless, there is still too often barriers, such as a too sloping slope at the entrance, poor lighting, or absence of a loop. That is why there will be a list of tips for municipalities for facilities in the polling station. Existing guidelines on accessibility among municipalities are also brought to the attention.
In addition, municipalities are encouraged to involve local disabled platforms and experiential experts in the chimney of polling stations, to use significations and to provide information about busy and quiet moments in elections.
Follow-up
The action plan runs from 2025 to 2029, and was drawn up with the help of interest groups and experiential experts. The actions are divided between the authors of the action plan. In 2027 it will be examined how it looks and whether actions have to be added or adjusted. A final measurement will be made in 2029.