Comments on: Who is entitled to vote? http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/ Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:30:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Terry http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-35719 Terry Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:19:03 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-35719 Patricia, I don't know specific details, but this <a href="http://www.drcnh.org/Issue%20Areas/voting.htm" rel="nofollow">site </a>implies that disabled voting rights are pretty well protected in New Hampshire. Maybe they can help you. Patricia, I don’t know specific details, but this site implies that disabled voting rights are pretty well protected in New Hampshire. Maybe they can help you.

]]> By: Patricia Martin http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-35700 Patricia Martin Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:20:10 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-35700 Does anyone know what the law is in New Hampshire? I was horrified to be given the run around when I tried to help my friend register to vote. Does anyone know what the law is in New Hampshire? I was horrified to be given the run around when I tried to help my friend register to vote.

]]> By: karpad http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-24849 karpad Mon, 16 Jul 2007 07:49:50 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-24849 referredhere by Alasablog. I suppose the question I'd really want to pose is "Are there truly enough people so throughly handicapped still trying to vote that this should be an issue?" I know I might have privilege or invisibility issues seeping in here. Does anyone really imagine caretakers en masse using subterfuge to support their candidate and tricking those they care for into voting going to happen to a degree where it could influence outcomes? If someone meets the age requirements, and is lucid enough to want to vote, what else would really be fair to demand? Almost by definition, laws designed to exclude "unfit" individuals from voting will be selectively enforced against the most vulnerable. I would not be even a little surprised to find out the laws forbidding "idiots and insane" from voting date back to the same decade as the laws barring ex-cons, ex-slaves, and literacy and poll tax requirements, and would have been enforced for the same reasons. And just like the ex-cons rule is still on the books and selectively enforced, I would imagine any competency requirements would function similarly. referredhere by Alasablog.

I suppose the question I’d really want to pose is “Are there truly enough people so throughly handicapped still trying to vote that this should be an issue?”

I know I might have privilege or invisibility issues seeping in here. Does anyone really imagine caretakers en masse using subterfuge to support their candidate and tricking those they care for into voting going to happen to a degree where it could influence outcomes? If someone meets the age requirements, and is lucid enough to want to vote, what else would really be fair to demand?

Almost by definition, laws designed to exclude “unfit” individuals from voting will be selectively enforced against the most vulnerable. I would not be even a little surprised to find out the laws forbidding “idiots and insane” from voting date back to the same decade as the laws barring ex-cons, ex-slaves, and literacy and poll tax requirements, and would have been enforced for the same reasons. And just like the ex-cons rule is still on the books and selectively enforced, I would imagine any competency requirements would function similarly.

]]> By: Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » Link Farm & Open Thread #50 http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-24580 Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » Link Farm & Open Thread #50 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:49:24 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-24580 [...] I See Invisible People: “Competence,” The Entitlement To Vote, and Disability [...] [...] I See Invisible People: “Competence,” The Entitlement To Vote, and Disability [...]

]]> By: Disability Blog Carnival #18… and a baby? Perhaps? « Retired Waif http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-24538 Disability Blog Carnival #18… and a baby? Perhaps? « Retired Waif Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:33:58 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-24538 [...] get to vote, even if we know fuck-all about politics or the issues! In “Who Is Entitled to Vote?” Terry at I See Invisible People has a concise summation of the dangers of basing the right to vote [...] [...] get to vote, even if we know fuck-all about politics or the issues! In “Who Is Entitled to Vote?” Terry at I See Invisible People has a concise summation of the dangers of basing the right to vote [...]

]]> By: Terry http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-23096 Terry Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:57:02 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-23096 Dancinghawk, laws and enforcement vary by state. At last count, 36 forbid voting by those judged incompetent or under guardianship. I wish the article had given a list of them. The rest of the states vary in their restrictions. Maine's law, which allows people to vote if they understood the nature and effect of voting and could make a choice, is considered a model. But even there, there's questions about how it should be applied. I agree, it is scary. Dancinghawk, laws and enforcement vary by state. At last count, 36 forbid voting by those judged incompetent or under guardianship. I wish the article had given a list of them. The rest of the states vary in their restrictions. Maine’s law, which allows people to vote if they understood the nature and effect of voting and could make a choice, is considered a model. But even there, there’s questions about how it should be applied.

I agree, it is scary.

]]> By: Terry http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-23095 Terry Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:52:25 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-23095 Jill, I'd saved your posts on the Ohio changes in my bloglines for a long time, waiting for the right opportunity to write on the issue. Your posts were very helpful. Thanks, A. You're right that it's mostly subjective, and that's what alarms me. Who is to make those determinations? The people most affected by it won't be given the chance to speak for themselves. It may take a case pushed through the courts to settle the issue on a national level. Jill, I’d saved your posts on the Ohio changes in my bloglines for a long time, waiting for the right opportunity to write on the issue. Your posts were very helpful.

Thanks, A. You’re right that it’s mostly subjective, and that’s what alarms me. Who is to make those determinations? The people most affected by it won’t be given the chance to speak for themselves. It may take a case pushed through the courts to settle the issue on a national level.

]]> By: Dancinghawk http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-23093 Dancinghawk Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:29:53 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-23093 I was actually a bit startled to find out that an adult individual who is ruled incompetent by the state -- i.e., they have a guardian -- cannot vote. I work with people with developmental disabilities and have spent a lot of time educating them on their right to vote, how to look at the issues, etc, and then encouraging them to vote when election time rolled around. I also never thought about the farther-reaching aspects of this idea. It's a bit scary. I was actually a bit startled to find out that an adult individual who is ruled incompetent by the state — i.e., they have a guardian — cannot vote. I work with people with developmental disabilities and have spent a lot of time educating them on their right to vote, how to look at the issues, etc, and then encouraging them to vote when election time rolled around. I also never thought about the farther-reaching aspects of this idea. It’s a bit scary.

]]> By: Ahistoricality http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-23040 Ahistoricality Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:07:39 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-23040 Very important thoughts, indeed. Once we get beyond the most objective minimal qualifications, we're going to get into subjectivities which have great potential for abuse against some of the most marginal people. Very important thoughts, indeed. Once we get beyond the most objective minimal qualifications, we’re going to get into subjectivities which have great potential for abuse against some of the most marginal people.

]]> By: Jill http://dailytroll.com/2007/06/26/who-is-entitled-to-vote/comment-page-1/#comment-23039 Jill Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:05:29 +0000 http://dailytroll.com/?p=1430#comment-23039 Terry, thanks so much for writing this post. I believe that this complex issue is avoided or only trotted out at certain times because frankly it's pretty personal and often painful - how many families DOESN'T it touch, you know? I don't know how to remove it from being politicized but it seems as though there's almost no issue that opportunists won't politicize. I guess though that I'm glad that the NYT wrote about it. Terry, thanks so much for writing this post. I believe that this complex issue is avoided or only trotted out at certain times because frankly it’s pretty personal and often painful – how many families DOESN’T it touch, you know? I don’t know how to remove it from being politicized but it seems as though there’s almost no issue that opportunists won’t politicize. I guess though that I’m glad that the NYT wrote about it.

]]>