The Association of Disabled Youth submitted an initiative to start the procedure for constitutionality assessment of the election law, because the norm, which refers to facilitating access to the polling station for people with disabilities, is inapplicable due to the way it is defined.
The initiator of the initiative, the executive director of the Association, Marina Vujačić, announced that Article 26 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament stipulates that "when determining polling stations, the municipal election commission is obliged to take care to facilitate access to the polling station for persons with disabilities." .
"The stated legal norm does not have an imperative character, because the disposition of the norm is defined as the disposition of the norm of non-binding legal acts (recommendation, guideline, conclusion, etc.). "keeping accounts" is imposed as a duty, which is a psychological and mental activity and cannot be objectively to be determined, so no sanction can be applied unless such an action is taken", the statement says.
That, as stated by Vujačić, means that due to such a definition, the norm is completely inapplicable.
"On the other hand, the terminological determinant "facilitate access" implies undertaking physical activities to overcome, and not to remove, physical obstacles in exercising the right to vote".
"In that sense, ignoring the rest of the norm, (when determining polling stations) this wording would mean that members of municipal commissions and boards or persons authorized by them to do so are obliged to physically help persons with disabilities to enter the polling station when they arrive. polling station and thus exercise your right to vote," Vujacic added.
According to her, the "action" of taking into account the facilitation of access must be undertaken by members of municipal commissions and boards or persons authorized by them on election day, i.e. on the day when persons with disabilities exercise their right to vote and face physical obstacles.
"However, the existing norm dictates that the aforementioned action be carried out when "determining polling stations", which is impossible to implement. Namely, when determining polling stations, it is only possible to perform the action of selecting an accessible, partially accessible or inaccessible polling station", stated Vujačić.
This norm, he believes, apart from imposing an obligation whose violation is unprovable, is also contradictory, because it is impossible to perform the action at the time when it is requested.
"Apart from the mentioned shortcomings that lead to the inapplicability of the norm, it does not agree with the Constitution of Montenegro and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which our country ratified in 2009," the statement says.
The Initiative states that the norm contradicts Article 8 and Article 17 of the Constitution of Montenegro, because people with disabilities are put in a disadvantageous position when exercising their right to vote.
The Initiative states that the norm is in contradiction with Article 8 and Article 17 of the Constitution of Montenegro, because people with disabilities are put in a disadvantageous position when exercising their right to vote.
"This norm is not in the spirit of the basic principles of public order: freedom, tolerance, respect for human rights and freedoms and the establishment of social justice proclaimed in the Preamble of the Constitution of Montenegro", adds Vujačić.
As she said, the Association actively followed the process of amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament and, in cooperation with the Association of the Blind of Montenegro, submitted amendments to the Law in September of last year by which they requested that the given article define a norm that reads: "Persons with persons with disabilities must be provided with unhindered access and entry into the polling station, access: screen to booths, ballot boxes and voting materials, in accordance with special regulations".
In view of this, the Association believes that non-acceptance of such a defined norm is a reflection and indicator of the attitude towards persons with disabilities.
Vujačić adds that the statement that they have repeatedly heard, both from the positional and opposition MPs, that there are no financial possibilities to adapt the polling stations, does not justify the violation of the Constitution and the Convention.
"And "savings" at the expense of people with disabilities, who are regular taxpayers like all other citizens, which ultimately leads to a violation of equality, personal dignity, and treats people with disabilities as second-class citizens whose vote is only important for political parties, but who do not have the opportunity or the right to express their will on an equal basis with the others", said Vujačić.
The Association proposed to the Constitutional Court to accept the initiative and issue a decision that initiates the procedure for evaluating the constitutionality of the provision from Article 26 of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Deputies, as well as to make a decision that the provision from Article 26 is not in accordance with the Constitution of Montenegro Above.
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