In the 2019 electoral year, polling place accessibility has slightly improved. This has been true in particular for the visually impaired, who were provided with magnifiers and Braille ballots.

Natalia Cojocaru, Keystone Moldova project coordinator, said the notion of accessibility of polling places should be extended to include not only the wheelchair users, but also people with sensorial disabilities, including the visually and hearing impaired.

“As concerns the accessibility of the electoral process, we have noted that this year some media outlets provided sign language interpreting for their newscasts”, said Natalia Cojocaru.

Citing other electoral observation efforts, Natalia Cojocaru came to the conclusion that “there is only one tendency showed: polling places are not accessible to people with disabilities”.

However, expert Ecaterina Golovatîi says the situation has improved compared to the 2016 presidential election. The voting booths were adapted to people in wheelchairs. Still, many access ways remain unavailable or are not compliant with European standards.

The “Informed and Conscious Vote” Project has been implemented by Keystone Moldova in partnership with Promo-LEX and with USAID support. The voter education project covered more than 2000 beneficiaries in 50 communities and 6 temporary placement centers for the disabled.