Campbeltown Courier

Advice for older voters

It is vital that older people’s issues and concerns are addressed in this general election campaign, and that older people are encouraged to exercise their right to vote on July 4.

In a democracy, we are fortunate enough to be able to have a say in how our country is governed, and we want as many older people as possible to make their voices heard by casting their ballot.

This time we must bring a valid photo ID – an original document, not a photocopy – to the polling station, which will be a first for many.

We want to make sure older people are aware of this requiremen­t and check that they have an ID that will be accepted, ahead of polling day.

It’s important that the photo on your ID looks like you.

Out of date photos or ones taken before a change in your appearance won’t be accepted.

If you don’t have a suitable ID, you can apply for a free voter authority certificat­e which you can use on the day.

Katherine Crawford, chief executive, Age

Scotland.

This photograph of Davaar was taken by Suzie McIntosh, who lives in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshi­re. She was in Campbeltow­n visiting her father, Donald Kerr, and was travelling back to town from Southend when she took the shot.

▮ If you have a photograph you would like to share, email it to editor@campbeltow­ncourier.co.uk along with your name and details of where and when the photograph was taken or post it on the Campbeltow­n Courier Camera Club Facebook page.

the country, candidates and their party activists are keenly engaging as many of the voting public as they can find.

This is an important part of our democratic process.

In recent years, online campaignin­g has grown in significan­ce with candidates and parties spending a lot of money and putting a lot of energy into communicat­ing their message to the online community.

There are around 183,000 people in Scotland with significan­t sight loss – and that figure is growing.

This is around 3,000 per constituen­cy. Blind and partly sighted voters would also expect candidates to communicat­e with them online.

By using alt text to describe any images on social media, political parties can include people with sight loss.

I would urge political parties and candidates to remember to use alt text for all their political campaignin­g on social media.

To find out more about accessible campaignin­g see our guide – How to campaign accessibly – Scotland at rnib.org.uk.

James Adams, director, RNIB Scotland.