STRØBYE AND ROSENLIND v. DENMARK JUDGMENT “... iii. to ensure that no person with a disability is excluded from the right to vote or to stand for election on the basis of her/his disability; ...” 70. In its report of 30 October 2014 on Denmark, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed, inter alia, the following concern under the heading “Participation in political and public life” (“Article 29): “The Committee is concerned that under the Constitution, the Parliamentary Elections Act and other electoral laws, and the Guardianship Act (section 6), persons under guardianship are not allowed to vote or to stand for election in parliamentary, municipal, regional or European Parliament elections, or referendums. The Committee is also concerned that election materials are reportedly rarely accessible to blind persons or to persons with learning and intellectual disabilities, that polling stations are often not physically accessible, that ballots may not be accessible to blind persons, and that persons under guardianship may not be able to freely choose the kind of voting assistance that they would wish to use. The Committee recommends that the State party amend the relevant laws, including the Parliamentary Elections Act and other laws governing municipal, regional and European Parliament elections, so that all persons with disabilities can enjoy the right to vote and stand for election regardless of guardianship or other regimes. It also recommends that the State party ensure, through legislative and other measures, the accessibility of ballots and election materials, and of polling stations, and that it ensure that freely chosen, adequate and necessary assistance is provided in order to facilitate voting by all persons.” 71. A report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights of 21 May 2014 on “The right to political participation for persons with disabilities: human rights indicators” stated among other things (pages 40-41): “Seven out of the 28 EU Member States – Austria, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom – guarantee the right to vote for all persons with disabilities, including those without legal capacity. In Croatia, legal reform in December 2012 abolished the exclusion of persons without legal capacity from the right to vote, meaning that people deprived of legal capacity were able to participate in the European Parliament and local elections in 2013. Similarly, amendments to the Latvian Civil Code which came into force in 2013 end the denial of the right to vote for those deprived of legal capacity. The relevant electoral legislation has not yet been amended, however, meaning people deprived of legal capacity can be barred from voting. A second group of EU Member States have a system whereby an assessment is made of the individual’s actual ability to vote. In Hungary, a system where everyone under guardianship was prohibited from voting was changed in 2012; now judges decide whether persons with “limited mental capacities” are allowed to vote. In Slovenia, the legal test for judges deciding whether to restrict the right to vote is whether the person with a disability is capable of understanding the meaning, purpose and effect of elections. A further 15 EU Member States prohibit people with disabilities who have been deprived of their legal capacity from voting. The Member States are Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, 22