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As of 31 December 2022, voting right was revoked for 3,505 citizens of the Republic of Slovenia. The grounds for revocation of the right included the individual''s disability. At the very least, this directly violates the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The aim of the project is to amend the Law on Elections to the National Assembly to implement Article 29 of the CRPD and prevent discrimination on the grounds of disability. At the same time, it is necessary to carry out activities to change public opinion and the opinion of decision-makers and to empower people with intellectual and related disabilities in the area of exercising the right to vote, as amending the legislation is only the first step towards ensuring that all adult citizens of the Republic of Slovenia will be able to participate actively and successfully in the civic democratic processes.
By changing the mindset of the community through an intensive public advocacy campaign and development of accessible materials, the The right to vote is not a whim builds on the efforts of the applicant and partner to date and loudly draws attention to the fact that the responsibility for (mis)understanding the meaning, purpose and effects of elections should not be shifted from the state to the citizens. On the contrary, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that its citizens have access to elections, i.e. that they have the necessary adaptations and means/technology to be able to exercise their right to vote and to make their own independent choices in elections like all other citizens.