The first time I voted I was thirty-one years old. The reason I didn't vote sooner was that my parents, with whom I lived at that time, used the excuse that you had to pay a "poll tax." It wasn't because I didn't want to vote. In fact, I was very much into politics, listening to radio and watching television. I wanted to get involved when I got into my twenties. But when I was eighteen I began to receive a disability pension. That was another reason why my parents said I couldn't vote: they said I might lose my disability pension.

Later, the sheltered environment I lived in didn't allow me to vote. No one would explain voting to me or tell me how to go about it. Most people with my life experience [of having an intellectual disability] do not vote. I have a friend who tried to vote once and something got mixed up with the election people. He had a bad experience on Election Day and never tried to vote again. His family doesn't encourage him because they tell him he doesn't need to vote since he doesn't really know what's going on. This is the case for a lot of people with intellectual disabilities. They do not vote because they are not thought to be capable of knowing what it's all about.

Another issue is the accessibility of information about the political parties by people with intellectual disabilities. The party platform needs to be stated clearly and simply during the campaign. People with all kinds of disabilities need to be encouraged to attend meetings and get involved in leadership campaigns. The meeting places need to be accessible and the information needs to be in a form that people with disabilities can absorb.

Paul Young is a consultant and the former President of People First of Canada, an advocacy organization created by and for individuals with intellectual disabilities.