On February 12, 2026, two contrasting scenarios from Bangladesh’s national election captured both the promise and profound failures of our participatory election systems.
At a polling center in Pekua, Cox’s Bazar-1 constituency, BNP candidate Salahuddin Ahmed stood in line like any ordinary citizen. But the true beauty of the moment was when he noticed an older person, hunched over and relying on a walking stick, waiting in the same queue. He immediately requested the volunteers to let the older person vote first.
Yet, for every story of individual kindness, there exists a systemic failure that betrays the very principle of equal suffrage. At Kathgor Govt Primary School in Chattogram-11, the reality was starkly different. An older person with mobility impairments arrived, determined to exercise his constitutional right, only to be turned away due to an inaccessible staircase.
With no ramp in sight, no volunteer to assist, and no alternative arrangement, the staircase became an insurmountable wall, effectively disenfranchising a citizen before he could even enter the booth.
These contrasting incidents force us to confront an uncomfortable question: Why are some voters granted dignity while systemic barriers exclude millions?
The numbers behind the exclusion
The exclusion of older people and persons with disabilities is not an isolated problem but a systemic one that affects millions of Bangladeshis. Approximately 19.35 million voters aged 60+ represent 15% of Bangladesh’s 127.7 million registered voters (EC, 2026). The National Survey on Persons with Disabilities (NSPD) 2021 revealed that 2.8% of the population live with disabilities, rising to 9.83% among those 65 years and above.
Crucially, ageing and disability are deeply intertwined. Globally, an estimated 46% of people aged 60 years and above live with some form of disability (UNDESA, 2025). In Bangladesh, a large percentage of our older people live with functional limitations, primarily mobility impairments, followed by visual and hearing impairments.
For example, physical disabilities affect 1.35% of the population (BBS, 2022). This means millions of citizens face a double burden: The physical challenges of age compounded by systemic barriers that deny their meaningful participation.
A 2025 national consultation on the “Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Electoral Process” uncovered that there are over three million registered voters with disabilities in Bangladesh, yet only about 10% of them have been able to cast their vote (UNDP, 2025). These statistics reveal a harsh reality that many older people and persons with disabilities face barriers that silence them in the democratic process.
The threefold barrier to democracy
The exclusion of older people and persons with disabilities manifests through interconnected barriers. These barriers fall into three categories:
Attitudinal barriers begin with social stigma and lack of awareness among election officials and volunteers. Poll workers often receive no training on the critical needs of older people and persons with disabilities. As a result, they mistakenly assume that these citizens either don’t “need” to vote independently or shouldn’t bother voting at all.
This paternalistic attitude strips citizens of their agency and dignity. The NSPD (2021) survey reported that 43.7% of persons with disabilities experienced discrimination, primarily from neighbours and relatives. Absence of poll worker training meant voters faced indifference.
It is also crucial to recognize the intersectional nature of this exclusion. Older women with disabilities living in a rural area face a triple disadvantage: Ageism, ableism, and patriarchy. They are more likely to be poorer, less likely to have a formal education, and far less likely to have their voting rights prioritized by their families or the community. Their votes are the ones most at risk of being left behind.
These are even more glaring. Our polling stations, often located in schools and community centres, are architectural relics of an exclusionary past. Most polling stations lacked ramps and wheelchair access, with voting booths on upper floors. For a person using a wheelchair or an older person with a cane, climbing a staircase is not just difficult; it is impossible.
The journey to the polling centre itself is an ordeal, with poor road conditions and a near-total absence of accessible transport. Long queues without dedicated lanes for older people and persons with disabilities create additional hardships.
Once inside, voters are further challenged by dark, narrow booth spaces. The absence of accessible toilet facilities, particularly, affects voters with urinary incontinence, forcing many to choose between their basic needs and their democratic rights.
Institutionally, we fail to adapt our systems to the needs of all citizens. For voters with visual impairments, the absence of Braille on ballot papers or tactile voting guides renders the voting process a mystery.
This forces them to rely on the very assistants who are meant only to facilitate, not to decide, their vote. Homebound individuals have no provision for voting. With 54.74% of persons with disabilities having no education (BBS, 2022), digital voter verification systems became impossible to navigate. Information about voting procedures is rarely available in accessible formats. No sign language interpreters for persons with hearing disabilities are available.
A call for inclusive democracy
Bangladesh’s democracy will be measured by whether it includes everyone: The elderly widow in rural villages, the young person with cerebral palsy, the older person with mobility impairments, and the farmer with a hearing disability. One person’s gesture of respect shows what’s possible but we cannot build democracy on individual kindness. We need systemic change guaranteeing accessibility as a right, not a favour.
Bangladesh ratified UNCRPD and enacted the Disability Rights Act 2013. We have committed to SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities and SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Now we must translate commitments into action.
Immediate measures must include introducing Braille on all ballot papers and election materials, implementing dedicated priority queues for older people and persons with disabilities, and providing needs-based caregiver assistance for homebound voters.
Additionally, it is essential to orient poll workers before elections and ensure accessible pathways, ramps (or alternative arrangements such as ground-floor voting), and toilet facilities at all voting centres. These are not luxury accommodations but fundamental requirements for a functioning democracy.
The barriers excluding millions are not inevitable; they are choices we can unmake. Democracy incomplete is democracy denied. What will we choose?
Shah Dedar is an age and disability inclusion expert.
