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Appeals Court Favors Individual Determination of Voting Rights for Disenfranchised Citizens with Mental Disabilities

August 23, 2007—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today held that Missouri law allows citizens who are under full guardianship to retain their voting rights if they demonstrate a capacity to vote. Read the press release...

Legal Advocates Challenge Missouri Voter Practices

Lawsuit Alleges that Mental Competence Requirements Violate Federal Law

St. Louis, MO (Fri., Oct. 8, 2004)—Legal advocates today will file suit against the State of Missouri to end the practice of barring people from voting or registering to vote because they have been placed under court-ordered guardianship. Read the Press Release...

Veterans’ Affairs Opens Doors to Voter Registration, Education Efforts

Disability Rights Advocates Hail Voting Rights Victory

Palo Alto, CA (Aug. 23, 2004)— Local officials last week agreed to allow advocates for people with disabilities to conduct voter registration and education activities at the Veterans' Administration Medical Center campus in Menlo Park, reversing an earlier position advocates believed to be discriminatory. Read the Press Release...

Election Overhaul Legislation Clears Congress

Washington, DC (October 21, 2002)—The Senate last week joined the House in approving the conference report on the election overhaul bill (H.R. 3295) drafted in response to voting difficulties during the 2000 presidential election. The legislation would provide national election standards and would authorize almost $4 billion to help states meet those standards. Under the bill, every polling place would be required to have at least one voting machine accessible to people with disabilities. The legislation also would allow a provisional ballot to be cast when identification is not available - a difficulty sometimes experienced by people with mental illnesses. The ballot would be counted later only if the individual can prove eligibility. State opposition forced removal of provisions to give individuals the right to sue if the new standards are violated, thus eliminating an effective means of encouraging compliance with the new standards. The President is expected to sign the bill soon.

• Read the Bill (text)
• Read the Bill (PDF)*

* You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view and print this file.

Federal Court Overturns Maine Voting Ban

Maine (August 10, 2001)—In a precedent-setting order on August 10, 2001, a federal court struck down Maine's prohibition on voting by anyone under guardianship by reason of mental illness. The court found that the Maine prohibition violates both the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The court also held that failing to give people notice before a guardianship hearing that they might lose their right to vote violated their Due Process rights.

While the state has a compelling interest in limiting the right to vote to people who understand the nature and effect of voting, Judge George Singal found a blanket restriction not narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. Whether "mental illness" is defined narrowly to include only psychiatric illnesses or whether it is defined broadly to encompass any kind of mental incapacity, the state cannot use mental illness as a proxy for mental incapacity with regard to voting. Individuals under guardianship may lack capacity to make some decisions but have capacity to understand what it means to vote, the court pointed out.

The 42-page decision in Doe v. Rowe is available as a PDF file.

* You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view and print this file.

More than 40 states have statutory or constitutional provisions that disenfranchise people with mental disabilities regardless of their capacity to vote. Among these are prohibitions on voting by people who are under guardianship, people who have been adjudicated "mentally incompetent," "insane people," "idiots" and "lunatics." By casting doubt on the validity of such blanket prohibitions, this decision is likely to have an enormous impact nationwide. The Federal Elections Commission's website lists every state's voter registration requirements.

The case was brought by the Maine Disability Rights Center on behalf of three women with mental disabilities who claimed they had been unfairly denied the franchise. The Bazelon Center provided assistance to the the Maine Disability Right s Center in developing strategies and drafting briefs.

In an interview on Maine Public Radio, state attorney general Steve Rowe said that the state does not anticipate appealing the district court's decision.