Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters
Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) -- A Deep River woman wants to change a state law to require that mentally disabled voters be supervised when they cast a ballot.
Brenda Lyddon said she was upset when staff at a group home in Grinnell took her 26-year-old son, who is developmentally disabled, to vote on Election Day against her wishes.
Lyddon said she's not trying to take away a person's right to vote.
"It's just that a lot of us, (group) homes and parents, need to work together and agree on what's best for our loved ones," she told The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.
Lyddon said she told the person in charge of the group home that her son was not to vote.
"I am his mother and he was not allowed to vote," Lyddon said.
Lyddon, who has guardianship over most of her son's legal decision, unsuccessfully challenged his ballot.
Lyddon supported Republican John McCain and her son voted for Democrat Barack Obama, but Lyddon said that's why she challenged her son's ballot.
"He does not have the mental capacity to choose for himself," she said.
It was at least the second case in which a relative challenged a family member's ballot in this month's presidential election in Iowa.
In Council Bluffs, a woman challenged her elderly mother's absentee ballot, claiming her mother suffered from dementia and was coerced into casting the ballot by Democratic campaign workers who were going door-to-door asking potential voters if they wanted an absentee ballot.
In that case, the woman supported McCain and her mother reportedly voted for Obama.
That challenge was also unsuccessful.
Linda Langenberg, deputy Iowa secretary of state, said it's the first time in her 32 years supervising elections that she's heard of someone challenging a family member's ballot. Langenberg was auditor in Linn County for 30 years before moving to the secretary of state's office two years ago.
Langenberg said it's not easy to take away someone's right to vote.
"The Iowa code says the only way you can deny them their right to vote is to have them judged incompetent by a court of law," said Langenberg, who oversees election and voter registration.
She said nothing improper was found in the Council Bluffs case, and in the Poweshiek County case the individual in question knew who he wanted to vote for.
"Do you take away that vote because in your mind they don't have the mental capacity? But maybe they do," Langenberg said.
"So who makes that judgment?" Langenberg asked. "It is a very sensitive area. There are definitely cases where people appear to be incompetent but they haven't been judged incompetent by a court and until a judge says that we can't make that judgment."
Brenda Lyddon said she was upset when staff at a group home in Grinnell took her 26-year-old son, who is developmentally disabled, to vote on Election Day against her wishes.
Lyddon said she's not trying to take away a person's right to vote.
"It's just that a lot of us, (group) homes and parents, need to work together and agree on what's best for our loved ones," she told The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.
Lyddon said she told the person in charge of the group home that her son was not to vote.
"I am his mother and he was not allowed to vote," Lyddon said.
Lyddon, who has guardianship over most of her son's legal decision, unsuccessfully challenged his ballot.
Lyddon supported Republican John McCain and her son voted for Democrat Barack Obama, but Lyddon said that's why she challenged her son's ballot.
"He does not have the mental capacity to choose for himself," she said.
It was at least the second case in which a relative challenged a family member's ballot in this month's presidential election in Iowa.
In Council Bluffs, a woman challenged her elderly mother's absentee ballot, claiming her mother suffered from dementia and was coerced into casting the ballot by Democratic campaign workers who were going door-to-door asking potential voters if they wanted an absentee ballot.
In that case, the woman supported McCain and her mother reportedly voted for Obama.
That challenge was also unsuccessful.
Linda Langenberg, deputy Iowa secretary of state, said it's the first time in her 32 years supervising elections that she's heard of someone challenging a family member's ballot. Langenberg was auditor in Linn County for 30 years before moving to the secretary of state's office two years ago.
Langenberg said it's not easy to take away someone's right to vote.
"The Iowa code says the only way you can deny them their right to vote is to have them judged incompetent by a court of law," said Langenberg, who oversees election and voter registration.
She said nothing improper was found in the Council Bluffs case, and in the Poweshiek County case the individual in question knew who he wanted to vote for.
"Do you take away that vote because in your mind they don't have the mental capacity? But maybe they do," Langenberg said.
"So who makes that judgment?" Langenberg asked. "It is a very sensitive area. There are definitely cases where people appear to be incompetent but they haven't been judged incompetent by a court and until a judge says that we can't make that judgment."
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Mark wrote on Nov 19, 2008 8:58 AM:
Lee wrote on Nov 19, 2008 8:22 AM:
Jules wrote on Nov 19, 2008 6:52 AM: