As part of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro assistance to the State Election Commission, to strengthen its administrative capacity to ensure that people with disabilities can vote independently and in secret, the Mission facilitated a study mission between 16 and 18 August to London.
Nikola Mugoša, Chair of State Election Commission (SEC), and Damir Suljević, a Commissioner representing NGOs and academia, together with Darko Brajović, the Mission Acting Democratization Programme Manager met with officials of the Cabinet Office and the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Electoral Reform Society, and some of the leading disability charities. The delegation examined both the British legislative framework and administrative practice of safeguarding blind and partially sighted people can exercise their voting rights independently and in secret.
Nikola Mugoša presented the Montenegrin electoral framework and the requirement, in line with ODIHR recommendations that Parliament undertakes a comprehensive electoral reform. He was expecting that the new Parliament would soon form an electoral reform committee and which the SEC will actively support. Commissioner Suljević shared recent amendments the SEC made to its secondary legislation, making voting easier for voters with disabilities.
Paul Docker, Head of Electoral Administration at Cabinet Office, discussed how the UK's accessibility legislation, removed impediments for voters with disabilities. The Royal National Institute of Blind People presented the work to make voting accessible for blind and partially sighted people.
Darko Brajović, the Mission's Acting Democratization Programme Manager underlined the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities are able to effectively participate in political and public life as part of the implementation of fundamental democratic rights in Montenegro.
