Beyond The Ballot: Reimagining Electoral Inclusion For Persons With Disabilities
Jeysoorya G & Siddharth Sundar, B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons), Sastra Deemed to Be University
ABSTRACT
This article examines the electoral rights of persons with disabilities in India by tracing the distance between formal legal equality and substantive electoral inclusion. Using political participation theory as an interpretive frame, the article argues that low electoral participation among persons with disabilities does not stem from a lack of civic interest but from structural conditions, inaccessible infrastructure, unreliable digital systems, and administrative design, that were never built around disabled voters in the first place. It examines India's constitutional and statutory framework alongside its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and identifies recurring barriers affecting voters with locomotor, sensory, intellectual, psychosocial, and institutional forms of disability. Drawing on recent developments, including the Election Commission's expanding home-voting programme and a significant 2025-26 Madras High Court intervention on polling-station and digital accessibility, the article contends that Indian electoral democracy must move beyond symbolic accommodation toward enforceable, audited, and rights-based inclusion.
Keywords: Electoral Democracy, Political Participation Theory, Substantive Inclusion, Disability Rights, Structural Barriers, Election Commission of India.
