Calling Snap Election in Snowy February Creates New Barriers to Accessible Voting for Voters with Disabilities

ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE

NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Calling Snap Election in Snowy February Creates New Barriers to Accessible Voting for Voters with Disabilities

 

February 22, 2025 Toronto: The decision to call a snap Ontario election in snowy February has created new serious accessibility barriers for voters with disabilities. Tall mounds of snow which municipalities shoveled onto sidewalks and other accessible paths of travel have created major impediments for people with disabilities such as those using wheelchairs, those with vision impairments and those with balance issues. Toronto has predicted that it will take as much as three weeks to clear these barriers. That is well after February 27 which the Ontario Government chose for voting day.

 

“Voters with disabilities wouldn’t have to face these new snow barriers if this election were held in the legislated voting day in June of 2026, or indeed in any month after the winter,” said David Lepofsky, who chairs the non-partisan grassroots AODA Alliance which campaigns to tear down disability barriers, including voting barriers. “It’s no surprise that in February, a Canadian winter can include major snowstorms and long delays in shoveling public walkways. Making this worse, it’s always possible to be hit with another storm on voting day.”

 

Creating these readily foreseeable new disability barriers flies in the face of the goals and spirit of the landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which the Legislature unanimously passed in 2005. The AODA required the Ontario Government to lead this province to become accessible to 2.9 million Ontarians with disabilities by the start of 2025, including ensuring accessibility of provincial elections. Ontario failed to meet that deadline.

 

“The AODA Alliance and many other disability advocates are campaigning in this election to get all parties to make strong commitments on issues that are important to people with disabilities, but our collective voice is unfairly weakened when there are barriers between voters with disabilities and the ballot box,” said Lepofsky. “Voting by mail is now no solution, since the deadline has passed for applying to vote by mail, and since that voting option itself has disability barriers.”

 

These new barriers exacerbate the preexisting barriers to accessible voting facing Ontario voters with disabilities. For example, AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky filed a human rights complaint in 2019 against Elections Ontario which proceeds to a hearing this fall. He contends that Ontario Voters who cannot read and mark a print ballot due to vision loss are not assured in an Ontario election that they can consistently and reliably mark their ballot independently and in private and verify their choice.

 

In this election, the AODA Alliance asked all parties to make the Accessible Ontario Pledge to lead this province to become disability-accessible. The NDP, Greens and Liberals each made accessibility commitments. The Conservatives did not respond to the AODA Alliance.

 

Contact: AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky, aodafeedback@gmail.com

Twitter: @aodaalliance

 

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