Main content

Barriers at the Ballot

Blind and visually impaired people may once again face barriers to voting in secret at the upcoming UK elections. Is a solution any closer?

Despite some encouraging developments, many blind and visually impaired people complain that they are still unable to secretly and independently cast their vote at elections. With UK elections fast approaching, this episode examines the current situation. Ian Hamilton reports on an initiative in Scotland, and also joining us are:-

Rachael Andrews, whose action to bring a case to Court resulted in the Judge finding that the existing arrangements were "a parody of the Electoral system".

Duncan Johnson from Pakflatt, a company that makes the McGonagle Reader, a device designed to enable secret and independent voting for blind people, and,

Jackie Killeen, Director of administration and regulation at The Electoral Commission.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the Âé¶¹Éç logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’

Available now

19 minutes

Last on

Last Sunday 05:45

Featured

  • .

Broadcasts

  • Tue 28 Apr 2026 20:40
  • Last Sunday 05:45

Download this programme

Listen anytime or anywhere. Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.

Podcast