Welcome back everyone to my personal website, and for some more news. This is something that I wasn’t planning to upload but have just decided to so the story can get out there, and so something can be improved in the future. Since this took place however, I have discovered that more people were affected other than only me, so I am going to investigate into it, and you might hear a lot more on it depending on how my investigation goes.
So as everyone who has viewed my other posts on here will know, there was an Assembly Election held in Northern Ireland on Thursday the 5th of May 2022.
I went down to vote on the day, with hope of doing what many other disabled people across the world, and also throughout history didn’t / don’t have the right to do, only to be denied my vote on the grounds of suitable ID being changed, which I had no idea about beforehand. I was aware that there might be a problem if I tried to use my Proof Of Age Citizenscard, as that has changed in recent years, but when I said I could go home and get my Blue Badge, I was told that it wasn’t acceptable ID, despite the fact that it was considered appropriate for disabled people getting their Covid-19 vaccines in 2020/2021.
So in the end, I had to put up with the fact that I’ve been discriminated against.
The reason I am uploading this and publicising this story is because there is likely to be a lot of disabled people who have went through this same problem, but I am the only one so far who is happy to speak out. If disabled people let themselves get walked over by those who are powerful in society, what stops it happening again? And how will the powerful be held accountable?
Also, before I get any more into what has happened in the days following the 5th of May, I would also like to point out that I ordered my passport back in February, and it still hasn’t arrived.
So as my loyal readers across both my sites will know, I am paralysed from the neck down. This means that I can’t move anything other than my head, and I am tracheostomy and ventilator dependent. I use two wheelchairs — one electric and one manual — to get around.
In the days that have followed May the 5th, I have since found out that at least 2 disabled people were affected, but this is something I am going to investigate into further.
I have also discovered that 50% less was spent on advertising, and that all advertising was aimed towards getting registered to vote — which I did — but not for explaining the ID required to vote.
In previous elections, around 40% of the budget was put towards ID.
I have also discovered that it was a government led decision for Blue Badges to be removed from the list of voter IDs — due to the Elections Act of 2021 — which is why I will be sending in interview requests to Westminster and Stormont, inviting them to be interviewed on the podcast.
The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland has also said that — after getting advice from the NIO — the reason Blue Badges were removed was because there’s no date of birth. But who would have the power to order that date of births are added onto Blue Badges? The government?
Phoebelyle.com 