Taking away the vote

• Author: Priya Khatkhate
• Pages: 9-10

Opening

Statements

EDITED BY LIANE JACKSON

LIANE.JACKSON@AMERICANBAR.ORG

PHOTO BY AP PHOTO/RICHARD VOGEL

OCTOBER 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 9

TAKING AWAY

THE VOTE

DISABLED PEOPLE UNDER GUARDIANSHIP

OFTEN LOSE VOTING RIGHTS

Lou Vaile didn’t know how to break it to his

son, Jack, when he got the news. A Califor nia

judge had granted Vaile conser vatorship to

help with Jack’s medical decisions, a s they

both wanted, but in the proce ss the judge also

rescinded Jack’s voting rights. Jack, then a sen ior

in high school, turned 18 in 2016 and had been

looking forward to hi s fi rst opportu nity to par-

ticipate in the electoral pro cess. He has cerebral

palsy and autism, is nonverbal a nd uses an assis-

tive device to communicate.

“Jack was really excited about the elect ion pro-

cess. He had done research. He wa s totally stoked

to vote in the primar ies in the election—and then

I got this piece of paper in the mail . I was sick. I

didn’t even know how to tell him,” Vaile recalls.

Like many people undergoing the gua rdianship

or conservatorship proce ss to help loved ones

with their health c are, fi na ncial or other decision-

making, neither Vaile nor his son knew that the

latter’s voting rights were even on the table when

they went before a judge.

In the 39 states and Washington, D.C., where

it is allowed, there is no generally a ccepted stan-

dard probate judges use to deter mine whether

people under guardiansh ip should retain or lose

voting rights. Archa ic language in some state

constitutions identifi es the “idiots and insane”