Eighth Circuit Upholds Missouri Law Disqualifying Wards From Voting
ST. LOUIS (CN) – The Eighth Circuit upheld a
The state has a long history of disenfranchising people in poorhouses or asylums, and in 1958 legislators amended the constitution to strip voting rights from anyone “who has a guardian … by reason of mental incapacity, appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction.” The guardianship criterion would give polling officials “something tangible” on which to assess a voter’s mental condition, the state said. Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services and its ward Bob Scaletty claimed the law violated equal-protection rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. But Scaletty’s full guardianship preserved his right to vote, undermining their argument that the