Acknowledgements The Equal Access manual was written by Virginia Atkinson of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Aaron Azelton and Kent Fogg of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). IFES and NDI would like to express deep gratitude to the many organizations and individuals who lent their expertise and time toward the development of this manual. The final product benefited tremendously from the insightful feedback of the following peer reviewers and organizations: • Patrick Clarke – Chief Executive, Down Syndrome Ireland • Cristina Francisco – Founder of Circle of Women with Disabilities, Dominican Republic • Susan Henderson – Executive Director, Disability Rights and Education Defence Fund, U.S.-based • Anna Lawson – Associate Professor, Disability Rights and Law, University of Leeds, United Kingdom • Farai Mukuta – Executive Director, National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped, Zimbabwe • Alexandria Panehal – United States Agency for International Development/Dominican Republic, Mission Director • Hicham Rachidi – Consultant, Moroccan Collective for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities • Susan Sygall – Co-founder and CEO, Mobility International USA • Stefan Tromel – Executive Director, International Disability Alliance, Switzerland-based • Yusdiana – Senior Disability Rights Adviser, Indonesia Disabled People’s Association • Center for Society Orientation, Serbia • Youth with Disabilities Forum, Serbia IFES and NDI would also like to extend a warm thanks to colleagues who provided technical support based on their experiences working with election management bodies and civil society groups, including: David Ennis, Kyle Lemargie and Maximo Zaldivar of IFES and Jelena Abramovic, Pat Merloe and Thomas Kelly of NDI. This manual is a better product thanks to the keen eye of Erica Shein and the editing and graphic design talent of Bella Desai and Jayne Miller of IFES. Lastly, it would not have been possible to create the Equal Access manual without strong support from the United States Agency for International Development, in particular thanks to Rob Horvath and Leah Maxson. Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes IX