I heard this on the radio this morning, and decided to look it up and see the whole story behind it. Apparently there is a section in the New Jersey Constitution from 1844 that says "No idiot or insane person shall enjoy the right of suffrage." Senate President Richard J. Codey introduced a resolution to change the language yesterday, and it will be voted on in November. He proposes changing the wording to "No person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting shall enjoy the right of suffrage."
There are six other states who also use the same language: Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio.
For a full article on the subject, go here.
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2 comments:
I kind of like the use of the word "idiot"... if only we could enforce it....
Lol, also, it says they can't vote...doesn't say anything about whether they can run for office or not...
Apparently, the wording is a big no-no, as we don't use the term "idiot" in reference to people with disabilities anymore. Just in reference to the people who have no real excuse.
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