Votes Shouldn’t Count
By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 31st, 2008In a sad example of continued stigmatization and discrimination against people with a mental illness, the California Republican Party has raised questions about ten votes cast in the Presidential election. Why? Because the voters had developmental disabilities and were helped in learning the process to cast their votes by one of their non-disabled caretakers.
Deeply disturbing, right? To read more, get your arse over to the brilliant John M. Grohol's site, Psychcental. Quickly, my petals!
The state Republican Party now questions the validity of the Thumbs Up votes. They want the Secretary of State to investigate.
“If they haven’t been declared incompetent to vote and they’re a citizen of the United States and they’re over 18 and they’re a legal resident, they’re entitled to vote,” said Professor Pamela Karlan, from Stanford University School of Law.
Karlan says legally, someone like Director Simerley can fill out a ballot for his clients, if they’re illiterate or incapable. Freedom of speech even gives Simerley the right to share his political opinions.
“We try to be totally non-partisan. We didn’t tell people how to vote, we told people how to vote,” said David Simerley.
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