Disabled Not Responsible for Distance to Polls

I am writing to express my complete and utter dismay at the excuse being given to explain why the polls for the Cataraqui District were located so far away.

Deputy clerk John Bolognone was quoted as saying in the article, "Voter Woes Aplenty" printed last Wednesday, that it is because of strict new accessibility requirements that the polls had to be moved.

Well, I hate to say it but I found this election to be far less accessible than most.

Quite frankly, I am shocked that he would use an excuse that basically scapegoats the disabled; the ones who are the least able to defend themselves and the ones who, in many cases, could not get out to vote because the added distance to get to a poll. Not all people with limited mobility qualify for, or have chosen to use, the Access Bus. Many people in my building, another district, could not vote either.

Our polls used to be in our basement, an accessible building, or in Calvary United Church, another accessible building. The polls this year were at Artillery Park, a full block from the bus stop, and Regiopolis Secondary School, which is way too far away. Those who owned cars could vote, but in our building, the car owners are in the minority. To make matters worse, a few people in my building reported that they tried to vote at the poll next door at Rideaucrest, but they were told they can't. It is for the nursing home and shut-ins only.

As for the accessibility of the polls, the poll that I worked at had dim lighting. This meant that one person had to get the help of an election official because, even with the magnifier, she could not see the ballot.

Two other voters, who were totally blind, had been away during the time of the advance polls so, without a voting template they had to trust that the stranger, who is likely honest, would mark their ballot correctly. In other communities there is a major concern about the lack of accommodation to allow one to independently vote so, in solidarity with them, I will say that the election was still not accessible enough.

Further, as a person who uses a wheelchair and must rely on the Access Bus to get around, I had no problem voting at the advanced poll, but I had some major challenges to work at one of the polls. Basically, the expectation was that I could be equal. This means when I went down to do the test and my knees didn't fit under the desk, I had to provide my own form of accommodation. The same thing happened with trying to read the map on the wall to answer one of the test questions. Chairs were in the way and no one would move them, so I had to guess. The joke was on them. I still managed to correctly identify the streets despite not being able to see the small print from afar.

In the job descriptions that were provided prior to applying for the job, nothing was said about moving tables to set up the voting booths. However, this was one of the jobs I was expected to do. Thankfully the janitor and my team of Deputy Returning Officers were able to set up the 4 tables and I was able to post signs.

When the polls were open, I did not hesitate to procure a chair for a person who appeared to have trouble standing, because I believe in doing my job, but I must admit it was a little tricky to do when I had my manual wheelchair. I had it so I could accommodate for the possibility that I might be without accessible transportation to get home later on.

When the election was over, I took the Access Bus straight to City Hall, as I was instructed to do because it is required to have a balanced count before we could leave. Little did I know that my team would complete the counts and balances without me, turn in the results, and go home?

This meant I needlessly waited at City Hall for 2 hours before an alert person in the elections office happened to stumble upon the results from my district, knew I was waiting, and came out to tell me. I was shocked that no one had bothered to communicate this important detail to me before then. I was left scrambling to find a ride home because the Access Buses were done for the day and Kingston still does not have accessible taxis. Fortunately I was able to find someone who could give me a ride.

Given this experience, I would say that the understanding of what it means to provide disability accommodation is somewhat deficient. I, therefore take great exception to this public statement about how the distant polls, that inconvenienced many and denied votes to others, were spaced further away because of the law to provide full accessibility to the disabled.

Please read my other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com

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