A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.
~Yoko Ono

Thursday, August 2, 2012

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Very interesting situation going on in Minnesota at the moment - apparently, the law there as it now stands provides that persons subject to a guardianship order retain the right to vote unless a judge explicitly takes it away.

Some are trying to get that changed to provide that a person subject to guardianship cannot vote unless a judge orders otherwise. They fear that the votes of some persons with disabilities are being manipulated. The article refers to "guardianship voting" - I'm not sure exactly what that means but they also speak about group home workers taking their "charges" to vote and possibly influencing their votes - although I have to wonder how many of those group home residents are actually subject to guardianship. My guess is that most aren't.

In Nova Scotia (which easily has the most archaic guardianship system in the country), many rights are automatically taken away from a person subject to a guardianship order, including the right to vote.

Although I think I know what my readership will say, what do you think?

Should people who have been declared incompetent still be allowed to vote? If so, what (if any) measures should be put in place to ensure that their votes aren't being illegally manipulated?

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