Persons with Disabilities’ Right to Political Participation around the Globe

The coronavirus pandemic has upended elections across the United States, casting uncertainty around electoral access as state and local officials draw up contingency plans. Both in the United States and throughout the world, such changes to electoral processes may either erect additional barriers or open new pathways to political participation by persons with disabilities. In the walkup to the 2020 U.S. general election, where election observers will be closely monitoring the accessibility of modified procedures, HPOD will host a panel of speakers to share insights into ensuring persons with disabilities enjoy equal opportunities to vote in future challenging electoral environments across the globe in order to fulfill their Article 29 right under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to political participation.

Panelists:

• Janet E. Lord is currently serving as senior research associate at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and holds part-time teaching appointments at the University of Maryland, Carey School of Law; American University, Washington College of Law; and National University of Ireland (Galway). She has worked on over fifteen election disability access programs implemented in developing countries.
• Alberto Vásquez is President of SODIS, a Peruvian NGO focused on disability law and policy. He participated in the process leading to more than 23,000 people with disabilities being restored voting rights in 2011 in Peru, and in the subsequent legislative reforms that ended guardianship and granted all persons with disabilities equal political rights.
• Elizabeth Kamundia is assistant director in the Research, Outreach and Advocacy Directorate at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights, she has studied the effects of barriers to political participation by persons with psychosocial disabilities in both Kenya and other African countries.
• Bryan Russell Mujica is the first Peruvian with Down syndrome to run for Parliament and the first Peruvian university graduate with Down syndrome.
• Esther Lee (Essie) Pederson is a national advisor to Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), co-director of the National Technical Assistance Center for Voting and Cognitive Access, and a founding member of the Ohio SIBS and the National Sibling Leadership Network.