In an ideal world, the right to vote would truly be equal, and accommodations would be made to ensure everyone can vote. For persons with disabilities who are unable to go to the polls, or even fill out their ballots, mail-in ballots and vote by proxy systems are two of the few avenues available to guarantee their vote counts.
Japan’s Public Offices Election Law specifies criteria a person with disabilities has to meet in order to obtain an absentee vote-by-mail ballot. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, persons with disabilities who require home care and hold a certificate with a disability rating of Grade 1 or 2 (out of 7) could vote by mail. However, a recent lawsuit is challenging that criterion. Fujiwara Sakura, a woman in her 40s, has filed a lawsuit with Okayama City Court claiming it was unconstitutional to prevent her from voting by mail due to her disability rating. She’s suing for 1.54 million yen (roughly $14,450 USD) in compensation.
Fujiwara’s lawsuit states the disability rating criterion violates her right to vote and the Constitution’s guarantee of equality. She holds a Grade 4 disability rating for lower limb dysfunction, and a home care aide visits her twice a week. Due to her difficulty in walking long distances, a tight budget, and her lack of transportation, she requested an absentee vote-by-mail ballot. The city denied her request, as her disability rating didn’t meet established criteria. As a result, she was unable to vote in the October 2020 gubernatorial election, something which has caused her “deep anguish.”
Voting Inaccessibility Nothing New
The government established a vote-by-mail system in 1947 under the Public Offices Election Law, but abolished it in 1952 due to mass voting fraud. Massive outcry led to the re-establishment of the postal voting system in 1974, albeit with strict eligibility criteria to counteract further fraudulent activities.
Fujiwara’s lawsuit actually isn’t the first to challenge voting inaccessibility in Japan. In 2000, 3 persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sued for 2.7 million yen in total as compensation for having been denied the right to vote. At that time, the Public Offices Election Law decreed persons with disabilities could vote, provided they could fill out the ballot themselves. As the plaintiffs were unable to fill out their ballots due to ALS complications, they applied for mail-in ballots to vote by proxy but were denied. In 2002, the Tokyo District Court denied the plaintiffs’ lawsuit. However, they did declare the government’s refusal to accept mail-in ballots was unconstitutional. This set the stage for a 2003 amendment to the Public Offices Election Law providing more voting accommodations for persons with disabilities.
Playing the Victim?
Judging by the comments on news articles and on Twitter, few people seem to have sympathy for Fujiwara's case. Click To TweetWhen interviewed by Mainichi Shimbun, Fujiwara explained she was in a traffic accident over 20 years ago and has been suffering from lower limb dysfunction since. “I used to be able to make it to the polls somehow, but the aftereffects of the accident have gotten worse year by year. I can’t even go to the hospital normally, and I can’t go to the polls. We should all have the equal right to vote.” She also cited the high costs of requesting a welfare vehicle as another hurdle preventing her from voting in person.
Judging by the comments on news articles and on Twitter, few people seem to have sympathy for Fujiwara’s case. Some degraded her reliance on public welfare and implied the lawsuit was a cash grab. Others wondered why she’s filing a lawsuit rather than requesting a re-evaluation of her disability rating. Persons with disabilities, including someone with a Grade 2 disability rating who said they were able to vote at the polls, also took issue with the lawsuit. “This comes across as some kind of subjective complaint,” the person posted. “Please don’t use persons with disabilities to fight your ideological battles.”
However the lawsuit proceeds, if it’s done anything, it’s to bring attention to how difficult life can be for persons with disabilities in Japan. Discrimination is still rampant, and not just for people with visible disabilities. Say what you want about the Olympics, but holding the Paralympics would give Japanese para-athletes a chance to prove their worth to a society that still largely belittles them. Prepping for the Olympics also sparked a linguistic conversation on the language Japanese people use to describe and handle disability. It seems only right that people take another closer look at voting accessibility, too.
