The Central Elections Commission (CEC) congratulates Persons with Disabilities (PWD) on the International Day for PWD, which is celebrated on 3 December every year. CEC praises the role of PWD as citizens, voters, candidates, and as observers on the electoral process.
On this occasion, CEC indicated that there are more than 52,000 names of PWD in the Voter Registry, constituting around 2% of the total number of people registered from all over Palestine. Pointing out that, during the 2021 local elections, nearly 60% of PWD who are registered practiced their right to vote.
It also confirmed its commitment to empower PWD to practice their right to easily participate in all stages of the electoral process without external help, doing so through accommodating its districts, procedures, and media and awareness materials with different types of disabilities.
On the other hand, CEC constantly works on including PWD, both directly and indirectly, within the targeted groups of all its projects implemented in cooperation with Palestinian CSOs, aiming to raise their awareness about their electoral rights and encourage them to actively participate in the electoral process.
It is worth mentioning that the year 2022 witnessed several awareness workshops all over Palestine, aiming at introducing PWD to their electoral rights and encouraging them to participate in future elections. More than 500 people with disabilities directly benefited from those workshops, in addition to 330 children who were also direct beneficiaries in the awareness project that targeted 10 schools of persons with hearing and visual impairments in both the WB and Gaza. During this project, the students implemented an Election Simulation that resembled the real electoral process that takes place on the national level.
In the same context, CEC is currently working in cooperation with the Palestinian General Union of People with Disabilities (GUPWD) and the Ministry of Social Development on developing a database that contains all the required information about PWD in Palestine. This database should contribute in providing PWD with the needed social services and encouraging them to participate in political life and the electoral process.