Section 2: Pre-electoral Period Section 2 Potential Barriers • Pre-election technical assessments do not address election access issues • Discriminatory election law • EMB budgetary resources not allocated for reasonable accommodations • Inaccessible polling centers selected • Poll workers not trained on administering the vote to persons with disabilities • Difficulties in securing a national ID card • Voter registration conducted in inaccessible locations • Voter education and information on political party platforms/candidates not distributed in accessible formats • Persons with disabilities not included as observers • DPOs lack experience in advocacy for political rights The pre-electoral period focuses on the preparation of an election. To support planning for an accessible election, assistance programs cannot wait until an election is imminent and the entire framework is already in place. Key stakeholders must take advantage of the pre-electoral period to make preparations that will improve the process in the electoral period. Some provisions will require additional financial resources, others will not incur additional cost if planned in advance and some activities do not have cost implications. This section will highlight the roles and responsibilities of EMBs and CSOs during this critical pre-electoral timeframe, with a focus on the following activities: • Conducting a pre-election technical assessment • Designing and drafting election laws and regulations • Financial and administrative planning • Recruiting and training electoral staff • Electoral planning and procurement • Conducting voter registration and registration of political parties and candidates • Implementing voter education campaigns • Accrediting election observers31 Good Practice In 2003, the Slovenian Constitutional Court reviewed whether the requirements of the Law on Elections for Slovenian Parliament, the Law on Presidential Elections and the Law on Local Elections for registering only people with full legal capacity were in compliance with the constitution. The Constitutional Court decided these election laws were unconstitutional, ruling that: “the capacity to exercise suffrage is impossible to be identified with legal capacity.”31 31 Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia. 73.29 (2003): 11212-11216. Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes 39