Online voting for people with disabilities
The right to vote for disabled people
Many people often find themselves limited by the physical environment due to the poor adaptation of physical polling places and related architectural barriers. There is often no accessibility to either places or information regarding an election event, leading to the question: is everyone really able to exercise their right to vote on equal terms?
When it comes to voting, people with disabilities are often overlooked and excluded, even though the law provides for different types of assistance such as assisted voting with a companion in the booth (for voters with physical impediments), voting at home (for intra-personal voters), voting in another section for accessibility reasons (for voters with walking problems), and dedicated transportation services.
A look ahead: the European Accessibility Act and its impact on voting rights
A major step forward in digital inclusion is coming with the entry into force of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) on June 28, 2025. This EU directive will establish unified standards for accessibility across Member States, eliminating disparities and requiring that digital services — including electronic voting — are accessible to all citizens, regardless of their abilities.
For people with disabilities, this means a stronger legal guarantee that online voting platforms must meet high accessibility standards, such as those defined by the WCAG 2 guidelines. At Eligo, we view the EAA as a catalyst for deeper inclusion: it reinforces our mission to create digital voting tools that are not only secure and reliable, but also universally accessible. The EAA is not just regulation — it is a clear recognition of the right to participate fully in democratic life, without barriers.
Electronic and online voting accessible to people with disabilities
Online voting(internet voting) can help to increase the involvement and participation of people with disabilities in decision-making and democratic processes, ensuring the expression of votes from whatever device and wherever the person is and thus nullifying technical and spatial barriers.
The issue of inclusion is a priority for us and extends to all business processes, but especially to product design. One of the drivers for the development of our solutions is precisely accessibility, which translates precisely into equal opportunities and rights of use and experience.
Every individual has the right to vote under equal conditions. For this reason, Eligo’s technical team is conducting analysis and research with the goal of continuing to develop a universal and inclusive electronic and online voting tool by following the WCAG 2 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines standards, which are the guidelines set forth by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which establishes a set of recommendations for the accessibility of Web platforms.
While accessibility is a critical pillar, it is equally important to understand how electronic and online voting is perceived across different social and institutional contexts. Discover what people think about electronic and online voting around the world, including the benefits, concerns, and real-world adoption.
Voting should not be a privilege, but a right of all.