Bazelon: Voting Rights Tool Kit for People w Disabilities - The Alliance for Rights and Recovery

NYAPRS Note: The following comes to us courtesy of our friends at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, including links that provide:

– Charts re state laws affecting voting rights of people with mental disabilities, voter challenge laws, absentee ballot laws, and relevant state court forms.

– A model letter to state election officials alerting them to voting problems faced by people with mental disabilities, and describing federal laws that protect the voting rights of people with mental disabilities.

– Model materials for people with mental disabilities and their advocates to use when challenging voting restrictions imposed on people under guardianship.

– A draft cover email to use when sending these materials to other advocates.

–VOTE 2012-It’s Your Right! Addendum to the 2008 Voting Rights Guide for People with Mental Disabilities (8/30/12): Replaces the 2008 chart “State Laws Affecting the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities” in

–Guide to the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (72 pages; 5.5″x8.5″ page size) (2008): Also available for purchase.

–Restoring the Voting Rights of People Under Guardianship (PDF) | Word Version (8/30/12): Includes model motions, affidavits and orders that people under guardianship- or their family members or advocates-can use to restore voting rights taken away because a person with a mental disability has a guardian.

–Model Letter to State Election Officials (PDF) | Word Version (8/30/12): Alerts state election officials to voting problems faced by people with mental disabilities, and describes federal laws that protect the voting rights of people with mental disabilities.

–Chart of State Laws Affecting the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (8/29/12)

–Chart of State Laws on Voter Challenges (8/29/12)

–Summary and Links to Guardianship and Conservatorship Forms Provided by State Courts(8/29/12)

–Absentee Ballot Requirements by State (8/29/12)

Handouts and Flyers for Posting in Facilities and at Polls

-For advocates, family members, poll workers and others, on providing help to voters with disabilities–who can, and how (2-page PDF)

-For voters with mental disabilities, explaining basic voting rights (1-page PDF)

Additional Resources

–Clearinghouse Review Article on Voting Rights of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairments (9/08)

Media Coverage

-Kansans to Vote on Voting Rights of Kansans with Mental Illnesses, KCUR News (10/26/10)

–Elections Board Won’t Take Away Mens’ Vote, Providence Journal (5/29/08)