Row over mentally disabled voting in Northern Ireland
A number of people with learning disabilities such as Down’s syndrome have come up against difficulties in registering to vote in Northern Ireland.
Official guidelines produced by electoral chiefs reportedly ban “idiots and lunatics” from voting and SDLP Assembly member Patsy McGlone is demanding that offensive references to mental disabilities are removed.
Ms McGlone told PA News: “It’s incredible that something so insulting to these people and their families should appear.”
The SDLP politician discovered the phrasing after the parents of 38-year-old Down’s syndrome sufferer Robert Kane told her they had been informed that “somebody had objected” to his application form when they attempted to put his name forward. Mr Kane has voted in previous elections.
The Kane’s do not know who opposed Robert’s registration and are very upset over the decision to exclude him from voting, the BBC reports.
A fact sheet produced by the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland states that anyone with mental disabilities cannot vote at a general election, under common law, if they are incapable of making a reasoned judgment on polling day, and further underlines the message using the words “idiots” and “lunatics”.
The Commission is believed to view the wording used in the 120-year-old legislation as inappropriate.
A guide produced for electoral administrators says that people with mental disorders, not living in a mental hospital or special establishment, can be included in the register, but adds: “The eligibility of someone who has a profound disability might, however, in certain cases be called into question because under the common law so-called ‘idiots’ cannot vote.”
Under current voter registration rules, each voter must register individually. If the form is signed on the voter’s behalf then a standard letter is sent out by the Electoral Office asking the signatory to confirm that the individual concerned is capable of making their own mind up when it comes to casting their vote.
However, anyone can look at the electoral register and raise an objection to any name on it, for any reason.
Voters who have found it difficult to register are invited to make their views known to the Northern Ireland Office, in a consultation period ending later this week.
