The perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities on their experience of voting in UK general elections

Abstract

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities' voting rate within the United Kingdom remains significantly below the population average despite government enacted voting promotion measures. No published academic literature directly involves people with intellectual disabilities when considering their UK general election experiences - this study aims to address this omission. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with people with intellectual disabilities (N = 20) about their election experiences during the 2017 (n = 18) and 2019 (n = 8) general elections. Six participants were interviewed around both elections. Data was analysed with template analysis. RESULTS: Eight themes were produced - election information, political knowledge, political opinions, voting choice process, polling station experience, voting outcome, capacity and support. Theme interactions impacted on election experiences. CONCLUSIONS: While acknowledging diverse experiences, voting outcomes and experiences were particularly impacted by factor interactions concerning election information and/or polling station accessibility, capacity and support. Voting promotion interventions and future research should consider these areas.