The Usual Suspect
Jun. 9th, 2017 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Presiding officer at polling station: "You're the one who raised the issue last year with the double doors being too narrow for wheelchairs if only one is open, aren't you? I did raise it, but now someone's stuck a sign on the other one saying 'do not open this door'". OTOH they did fix* the issue with one of the inner double doors before I'd finished voting. It was propped open with a large armchair, which meant I had to slalom around it and come at the doorway from an awkward angle, which would have blocked a power chair or mobility scooter if it could get past the outer door. And the presiding officer walked out with me to be sure I could get out this time - last year I could get in but not out as the differing approach angles ran me into the door frame one way but not the other, this year I have a slightly narrower chair. *By propping both doors open with large armchairs {Le Sigh}.
I suspect the school is generally fairly clueless on access issues. There are two kerb cuts onto the paving in front of the doors, one is half-blocked by a large planter at the top....
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 03:57 pm (UTC)Not sure how easy it would be for people with other disabilities.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 08:13 pm (UTC)It's like a fish trap for wheelchair users! That is not okay.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-09 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-10 11:36 am (UTC)That time the polling place (a Primary school) had non-accessible toilets, but the accessible toilet was locked and no-one had a key.
When there is no shade for people to queue in. (With long queues, sunburn/heat exhaustion becomes a real risk here in Australia.)
When there is no seating for queuing people - not everyone can stand for 20-30 minutes, especially in heat.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 03:00 pm (UTC)*Headdesk*
That's a very good point! Ditto on seating. I've never really needed to queue to vote, but my ability to stand in place is basically zero and that won't be an uncommon situtaion
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 03:54 pm (UTC)(Australia has compulsory voting, and usually uses primary schools as polling places... and sets it up so that people are queing on the sunny, seatless bitumen playground.)
If you're organised and prepared to vow that you can't make it to a polling place on the day due to travel or work, there ARE pre-polling places where you can vote ahead of time - still 20-30 minute queues, but at least you'll be indoors in airconditioning. (Pre-polling places are usually indoor shopping centres or office spaces.)
Disabled access to voting places is terrible here, most disabled people do postal votes.
The Australian Electoral Commision website lists polling places as "accessible" when what they mean is "send in an ablebodied friend to ask, and a AEC employee will come out to your car with a voting ballot and let you fill in the vote and take it away with them"
Every election, the Disability Access Wall of Shame facebook group has an argument between people saying
a) "all polling places should be accessible (and if they're primary schools, why aren't they accessible for kids and parents already anyway)"
vs people saying
b) "why make life harder for yourself than it needs to be, just do a postal vote".
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 05:07 pm (UTC)I'm definitely in the all polling places should be fully accessible school. That's why I don't have a postal vote.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 06:13 pm (UTC)but I do a postal vote because it takes me 2-3 hours with internet access to fill out a ballot form (looking up candidates, reading policies, and ordering preferences.)
Most recent election I had to preferentially order something like 43 candidates.
(You can vote "above the line" eg Greens 1, but then you don't get a say where your preference goes. If you vote "below the line", you have to number all the boxes, even if there are 50 or 70 boxes...)
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-13 04:05 pm (UTC)Even voting below the line, it wouldn't take me anywhere near as long if not for the brain symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.
For the house of representatives, you DO have to number every box, but there are usually only 6 candidates.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-11 01:00 pm (UTC)