A Croydon resident who is registered blind has won a legal challenge brought against the council, which claimed that it had failed to make reasonable adjustments to make postal voting more accessible for him and other people with visual impairments.
In the post: Yusuf Osman has claimed another legal case success against Croydon Council
The challenge was launched after Norbury resident Dr Yusuf Osman was unable to vote by post without assistance in two elections held last year. He had to rely on a friend for assistance, compromising his ability to vote secretly and independently.
The council has now settled out of court, agreeing to make significant changes in the way it operates voting for blind people, and to pay Dr Osman a token sum in damages.
In the lead-up to the London Mayor and Assembly elections in May and General Election in July last year, Dr Osman was only sent hard copies of postal voting documents which contained no instructions or information in Braille. This was despite the council being aware of his visual impairment.
Croydon’s Returning Officer, in charge of the conduct of public elections in the borough – and paid extra for doing so – is Katherine Kerswell, 63, the council’s £204,000 per year chief executive. Kerswell was roundly criticised for her mismanagement of Croydon’s local elections in 2022.
Dr Osman owns software able to scan and read out plain text. But other information contained in tables or images is often interpreted inaccurately. The software does not allow him to identify where to cast his vote on the ballot, or assist with marking it.
In order to vote by post, Dr Osman therefore had to ask a friend for assistance. This involved his friend reading out the contents of the voting documents and filling in Dr Osman’s details, before ticking the box of Dr Osman’s chosen candidate and preparing the documents to send in the correct envelope.
Dr Osman, 45, is an Inside Croydon reader and was one of our panellists on our latest Croydon Insider podcast. He tries to live as independently as possible, and found having to rely on someone else to exercise his fundamental right to vote disempowering.
Following these experiences, Dr Osman instructed solicitors Leigh Day to act on his behalf and a letter before claim was sent to the council in August 2024.
Dr Osman raised concerns about the council’s failure to anticipate and act on the needs of disabled voters, and to provide reasonable adjustments to enable them to exercise their right to vote independently and in secret.
Another legal success: Dr Yusuf Osman
Dr Osman requested that he and other visually impaired voters be provided with correspondence and documents relating to voting in accessible formats, such as Braille or in digital formats that are readable by relevant software.
He also invited the council to consider providing him and other voters with accessibility devices such as a McGonagle Reader, an audio-tactile device which helps visually impaired individuals to vote independently and in secret.
It is not the first time that Dr Osman has taken on Croydon Council and won. In 2023, he launched a Judicial Review in the High Court over the council’s changes to its Council Tax Reduction scheme. In a settlement of that case, the council agreed to pay Dr Osman more than £66,000 in costs and damages.
Last month the council agreed to pay Dr Osman £750 in compensation, and confirmed that it would make reasonable adjustments for visually impaired people at future elections. The council also offered for Dr Osman to be involved in wider consultations, including with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and has invited him to discuss the particular challenges that he faces voting by post and how these can be addressed.
“From my first vote in the General Election of 2001 right up until the General Election of 2024, I have never been able to vote independently and in secret,” Dr Osman said.
“I hope that with the agreement with Croydon Council I might finally be able to do this. I’d like to thank my legal team for all their hard work and efforts and the willingness of Croydon Council to find a way through this situation that will meet my needs and the needs of other blind and visually impaired people.”
Samantha Fothergill, the RNIB’s legal adviser, said: “For too long blind and partially sighted people have been denied the right to vote independently and in secret. The postal voting process remains particularly inaccessible.
“We welcome the steps now being taken by Croydon Council to address this issue and look forward to working with them and with Dr Osman to ensure that an independent and secret vote becomes a reality for blind and partially sighted residents of Croydon at the next election.”
Read more: Criticism of Kerswell’s election count ‘justified’ says report
Read more: From bankrupt to laughing stock as council count continues
You can listen to Dr Yusuf Osman and our other guests on our latest episode of The Croydon Insider, an Under The Flyover podcast produced exclusively for subscribers to this website. Our podcasts are available via Patreon and Spotify, free for paying subscribers to this website. Click here to find out more
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