What’s Inside Section 1 reviews disability concepts and preferred terminology, highlighting the diversity of the disability community. Section 2 summarizes the following approaches and considerations in the Pre-electoral Period: • Pre-election assessments with a specific disability lens • Election law reform to remove outright barriers to voting and increase overall accessibility • Inclusive election administration with a disability lens in all areas of preparation Section 3 examines the following aspects and potential interventions during the Electoral Period: • Supporting partnerships between national or international observer groups and DPOs, and including persons with disabilities as short and long-term observers and monitors • Empowering persons with disabilities during the nomination process to be viable candidates • Supporting the EMB and political parties in providing information in accessible formats and conducting specific outreach to persons with disabilities during campaigns • Assisting DPOs in securing election pledges from candidates and political parties to increase awareness of advocacy initiatives and constituent concerns, and hold elected officials accountable • Promoting codes of conduct for political parties and candidates that feature language on providing information in accessible formats and including persons with disabilities in activities • Organizing debates with candidates on policies that affect persons with disabilities and ensuring all candidate debates are accessible to persons with disabilities • Supporting EMBs in Election Day implementation of accessibility provisions • Transmitting results in accessible formats • Ensuring access to election dispute mechanisms and complaint adjudication processes Section 4 explores the following opportunities for continued engagement in the Post-electoral Period: • Polling station audits that include the authority to impose penalties when accessibility standards are not followed • An inclusive review process to capture lessons learned and assess the impact of actions taken to increase access • Ensuring accessibility of government institutions The manual ends with a case study of the Dominican Republic which: • Provides lessons learned • Shows how to increase program impact by including persons with disabilities during program design Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes 17