On July 14, several Portuguese entities - public bodies and institutions representing people with disabilities - organized a conference on accessible elections in the Portuguese Parliament. This was a debate and reflection on the needs and difficulties of people with disabilities as regards their political participation and the exercise of the right to vote. Tomé Coelho, President of ACAPO, an institution that played a fundamental role in the organization of the conference, emphasizes the great participation "of various entities and personalities with responsibilities in this area, namely representatives of political parties" and it is expected that "a response will be given to People with disabilities and organizations representing them." Among the suggestions made by ACAPO, there is a need to create a mechanism that allows visually impaired persons to vote in an autonomous and confidential way. For this purpose, he defended the implementation of an electronic vote in person and, as long as the voting system is dependent on paper, the existence of a Braille matrix that, being superimposed on the ballot paper, will allow voters, provided they are knowledgeable about the Braille system, exercise their rights without the support of third parties. Nevertheless, it also suggested that any voter should be able to choose whether or not to vote accompanied, the method that is currently used. In the context of this conference, ACAPO was tasked with preparing a leaflet, which was only available in Portuguese, with 10 recommendations for more accessible elections.
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