French Lawmakers Encourage Accessibility for Parliamentarians with Disabilities and End Discriminatory Voting Methods

Lawmakers in France unanimously agreed to amend a voting procedure that discriminated against people with disabilities.

In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, French parliamentarians decided to amend the voting process, doing away with a voting procedure that discriminated against a wheelchair-using lawmaker since it required him to stand.

Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly, and Sébastien Peytavie, the politician who requested the rule change, said that the discrimination he has experienced during lower house votes in parliament is a reflection of France’s broader shortcomings toward individuals with disabilities.

On Wednesday, lawmakers voted 183 in favor of the measure and none against, paving the way for Braun-Pivet to do away with so-called “sitting and standing” voting.

In order to express their vote, parliamentarians could remain sitting or get up at that point. It is one of four ways that French MPs can vote, depending on the situation.

A show of hands, an electronic voting box, or paper ballots deposited into an urn are the other options.