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Advisory Group for Disability Issues (AGDI) – Meeting Summary – March 8, 2023

Table of Contents

Advisory Group for Disability Issues – Consultation Summary

Overview

The Advisory Group for Disability Issues (AGDI) was convened for a virtual consultation on March 8, 2023. The first objective was to consult AGDI members on the need to redesign the ballot to accommodate an unprecedented number of candidates in the Mississauga–Lakeshore by-election. The second was to discuss recommendations on the ballot's design in case we have similar situations in the future.

AGDI members were previously consulted in November 2022 on the accessibility of the ballot's design. The Consultation Report – Ballot Redesign Options for the Mississauga–Lakeshore By-Election is available on the Elections Canada (EC) website.

The consultation was led by Nicolas Juzda, A/Manager, Voting Operations and Planning. It was facilitated by Laurel Hobday, A/Manager, Consultation Services.

This is a summary of the discussion that took place during this consultation. The list of participants is included in Appendix A.

Introductions

Laurel Hobday welcomed AGDI members and EC participants. She introduced Juan Melara-Pineda to announce a change in AGDI membership: Jewelles Smith has joined EC on a part-time basis. She will help EC prepare the Accessibility Plan's first progress report and develop a Gender-Based Analysis Plus strategy.

Consultation

Nicolas Juzda began the consultation by explaining that, during the recent by-election, EC learned that there would be a very high number of candidates running. After nominations closed, 40 candidates were confirmed, which is twice as many as the previous record, and about three times the as many candidates that normally appear on a ballot. It was a challenge to design the ballot with an unprecedented number of candidates while ensuring that it remained accessible to electors.

He detailed how EC consulted with accessibility stakeholders for their recommendations on the ballot's design. He described the final ballot design: two columns with 20 candidate names in each column, reflecting the collective feedback from the stakeholder consultations. He commented on other designs that were considered, and explained why they were not used. He presented the changes made to the accessible voting tools (i.e. List of Candidates in Large Print, braille list of candidates, voting template, etc.) to match the ballot's design.

Nicolas Juzda asked AGDI members for further feedback on the ballot's design, to help EC prepare to face similar situations in the future.

AGDI members noted that EC considers the weight of the plastic braille voting templates because cardboard templates, like the ones that were used in the recent by-election, are lighter and are more suitable for voters with limited dexterity and mobility.

Several AGDI members recommended adding political party logos or images of the candidates on the ballot to make it easier for voters to recognize political parties or candidates. Members noted that it's easier to find a candidate with their party's logo, especially if the list of candidates is long and some of the candidates' names are similar. They also mentioned that this would better serve Indigenous voters, who use more visual ways of identification.

Some members expressed being overwhelmed with the amount of information on the ballot with 40 candidates. They added that, if political party logos or images of the candidates were included on the ballot, it would be even more overwhelming. Nicolas Juzda said that the Canada Elections Act does not allow for adding logos or images to the ballot, and Laurel Hobday added that EC is exploring other ways to present candidates that includes political party logos and/or images of the candidates. She noted that AGDI will be consulted on this at an upcoming meeting.

AGDI members asked what mitigations EC has in place to prevent losing the quality of the printed braille while it's being used by multiple voters. Nicolas Juzda assured members that multiple copies of the braille list of candidates and of the cardboard braille voting template were available to voters at polling places. He said that, during the recent by-election, the number of candidates was finalized very close to the day the accessible voting tools were produced; therefore, the tools were only available for election day. Members raised that not having these tools available for the advance polling days creates a barrier to voting.

Members voiced their support for keeping the names of candidates on one side of the ballot. They said that this keeps the ballot accessible for voters with intellectual disabilities, those who are visual learners and those who have short-term memory issues. AGDI members advised against having information on the front and back of the ballot for these reasons. They recommended adding a second ballot page in cases where there are more candidates than would fit on one side.

AGDI members unanimously validated EC's decision to not reduce the font size of the candidate names and their political affiliation. Some members suggested increasing the font size of the political affiliation because some voters will look for that instead of a candidate's name. Other members voiced that increasing the font size too much would create a barrier for voters with dyslexia.

Members pointed out that certain voters with disabilities depend on their memory when voting. A change to the familiar process may create confusion around how to mark the ballot. AGDI members reiterated the importance of providing accurate instructions (through election workers, in images or in writing) to allow voters to vote independently and confidently.

Appendices

Appendix A: List of participants present for the duration or part of the meeting

Advisory Group for Disability Issues members

List of members of the Advisory Group for Disability Issues

Gary Birch; Michael Ciarciello; Kory Earle; Hélène Hébert; Jocelyne Pambrun; Noah Papatsie; Christopher Sutton

Elections Canada staff

Brad Darch; Jonathan Germain; Laurel Hobday; Nicolas Juzda; Juan Melara-Pineda; Irini Mavroudis; Jewelles Smith