For the first time, disabled or fragile people under guardianship can vote this Sunday, May 26 in the European elections.
For the European elections on Sunday May 26, disabled or fragile people under guardianship can vote. A first in France.
“We had been fighting for this right for more than 12 years in inter-associative associations. Since the law of 2007, which stipulated that this right to vote could be removed by the guardianship judge”, summarizes for France Info Bruno Le Maire, a vice-presidents of the National Union of Associations of Parents, Persons with Mental Disabilities, and their Friends (UNAPEI). “People with disabilities must be listened to, heard and respected”, he adds.
An accompanying person in the voting booth
Several things have also been put in place to make it easier for people under guardianship to vote. For example, the deadline for registering on the electoral lists has been extended for them, the candidates’ professions of faith have been written in FALC (Easy to read and understand)*, and explanatory videos on how and why to vote have been line.
People with disabilities can also go with an accompanying person to the voting booth. “It is a right granted automatically because some people cannot read. It is necessary to help them”, explains Bruno Le Maire. “We have asked a number of times for there to be photos of the candidates on the ballots . Or pictograms. In any case, things that are easy to understand. But when it comes to lists, as is the case for the European elections, it is not very easy to set up”, adds- he.
800,000 people under legal protection
Nearly 800,000 people are placed under legal protection in France, guardianship or curatorship. 483,000 are cared for by legal representatives for the protection of adults (MJPM), the others being accompanied by their families.
In French civil law, guardianship is a measure of protection and legal representation pronounced by the judge of guardianships allowing the protection by a guardian of an adult whose physical or mental capacities are altered, or of minors who are not protected. by parental authority (death of parents or withdrawal of parental authority).
*Easy to Read and Understand (FALC) refers to a set of rules intended to make information easy to read and understand, especially for people with mental disabilities.
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