Voting and the rights of all Americans
Can autistic people vote? As voting times draw near, inevitably, people with disabilities start to wonder on their rights to participate. They commonly seek answers to their questions on competency and legal guardianship laws, as well as what if any assistance is offered in the voting process.
Voting laws clearly and firmly state that disabled citizens, who are otherwise fully capable and eligible have the same rights to participate as all others. The voter is permitted to either bring another qualified voter to assist them, or to elect a family member to vote in their place.
The Bazelon Center for Mental Health conducted a research of all state laws regarding the voting rights of all disabled individuals. The Bazelon study provided laws showing that most states did not require voters to demonstrate competency. It also stated that the states that do impose competency regulations have to ensure that the regulations are not so constrictive that they single out any specific group or disorder. In addition, questions on the voter’s competence can only be used to cast an official legal challenge, and only a court can decide on the end results of that challenge. In short, voting regulations cannot take away the natural rights of the American citizen.
Some Silly Yet Important Questions:
1). Can autistic children be very smart?
2). What happens when autistic people smoke weed?
3). Can autistic people live on their own?