Swiss government supports giving the vote to people with learning disabilities

The Swiss government has voted in favour of a motion that would allow Swiss citizens with learning disabilities to vote. An amendment to the Swiss constitution would need approval from cantons and Swiss citizens in a referendum.

Swiss with learning difficulties may be given the vote

The Council of States, the upper house of the Swiss government, has recently approved a motion that would give the right to vote to all Swiss citizens with learning difficulties. In a vote this week, the Council of States passed the motion by 29 votes to 13, with two abstentions. The motion was already approved by the National Council in May.

The term learning difficulties, also known as learning disabilities, refers to a person's ability to learn new things and can differ person to person. According to the NHS, people with learning disabilities may have difficulty "understanding complicated information, learning some skills or looking after themselves or living alone".

A proposal will now be created to change the Federal Constitution to allow people with learning difficulties to vote. Constitutional amendments require cantonal and voter approval in a referendum.

Swiss constitution currently excludes 16.000 people

The Swiss constitution currently denies voting rights to people “incapacitated due to mental illness or mental weakness”, reports Watson. This excludes around 16.000 people from voting in Switzerland, contradicting the “principle of equality before the law”. 

Maya Graf, a member of the Council of States, argues that the current criteria that assess learning disability are "inappropriate". For example, testing financial understanding is not linked to the “ability to form political opinions”. People without learning disabilities are not assessed in the same way, and some may even struggle to understand complicated political proposals themselves, reports Watson.