Mentally disabled voters exploited?

[Merc14]

More foul behavior from the party of caring. This is the vaunted ground game in action.

http://www.fayobserv...84?sac=fo.local

Concerns raised over possible exploitation of mentally disabled voters

By Gregory Phillips

Jimmy Green's stepdaughter had never voted before. The 57-year-old is mentally disabled, and Green said she doesn't understand the concept of casting a ballot.

But this week, she called her parents to say she had voted for President Obama. The care home in Fayetteville where she lives registered its residents to vote and drove them to the polls, Green said.

"My concern is that somebody told her who to vote for," he said. "She didn't even know there's two different parties."

Complaints of uncomprehending voters being ferried to cast ballots surface every election. And in a presidential race as close as this year's, with huge levels of early voting, any perceived irregularity is falling under intense scrutiny.

But federal and state laws are very clear - there is no competency test for voting.

"The law specifically says that anyone with a disability is allowed to have assistance from anyone that they choose," said Terri Robertson, director of the Cumberland County Board of Elections. "As long as they can communicate to us in some way that they need assistance and who they wish to have assistance from, the law allows it."

Edited November 2, 2012 by Merc14

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Seriously you should read your own article.

In 2010, Gary Bartlett, the state elections director, issued a memo to county boards clarifying the law.

"In the absence of evidence of systematic fraud," Bartlett wrote, "the presumption should work in favor of the opportunity of the voter to vote."

Don Talbot said he saw vans full of mentally disabled voters brought to the polls time and again during his years as a former precinct chief in Cumberland County. He said it often appeared they had little input in completing the ballot.

"The audacity of it to me, it is shameful, but both parties do it," said Talbot, a former Fayetteville city councilman. "When you haul people that are not competent and you do their voting for them, that's fraud."

Bob Hall with Democracy North Carolina, a voter rights group, said he hears protests about the opposite problem.

"We also get complaints from people who want to provide assistance being told they're not allowed to give it," he said. "They go overboard on the other direction."

It can be hard for observers to tell how much assistance a voter is getting, said Lisa Grafstein, a lawyer for the Disability Rights N.C. advocacy group.

Edit to add: I have changed the title of your thread to remove flamebait

Edited November 2, 2012 by Daughter of the Nine Moons

[Ashotep]

This is done by people in both parties. Should it be allowed, no. If a person isn't competent enough to know who the president is they don't need to be voting but don't try to lay it all off on one side.

[The Mule]

Mentally disabled voters exploited?

How do you think Bush got so many votes?

[Princess Serenity]

Mentally disabled voters exploited?

How do you think Bush got so many votes?

Don't take this the wrong way but are you calling people who voted for Bush mentally disabled?

[Merc14]

Seriously you should read your own article.

In 2010, Gary Bartlett, the state elections director, issued a memo to county boards clarifying the law.

"In the absence of evidence of systematic fraud," Bartlett wrote, "the presumption should work in favor of the opportunity of the voter to vote."

Don Talbot said he saw vans full of mentally disabled voters brought to the polls time and again during his years as a former precinct chief in Cumberland County. He said it often appeared they had little input in completing the ballot.

"The audacity of it to me, it is shameful, but both parties do it," said Talbot, a former Fayetteville city councilman. "When you haul people that are not competent and you do their voting for them, that's fraud."

Bob Hall with Democracy North Carolina, a voter rights group, said he hears protests about the opposite problem.

"We also get complaints from people who want to provide assistance being told they're not allowed to give it," he said. "They go overboard on the other direction."

It can be hard for observers to tell how much assistance a voter is getting, said Lisa Grafstein, a lawyer for the Disability Rights N.C. advocacy group.

Edit to add: I have changed the title of your thread to remove flamebait

I read it and I find this disgusting. Sorry. Mr. Bartlett says both sides do it yet there is no article on republicans hauling van loads of mentally disabled to the polls. Mr. Bartlett has a long history of questionable practices in the predominately blue state of NC http://www.civitasre.../gary-bartlett/ I live just north of the NC border and we get all the stories first hand but, change what you want, no problem here.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Merc14

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Sorry.

I accept your apology

Sorry. Mr. Bartlett says both sides do it yet there is no article on republicans hauling van loads of mentally disabled to the polls.

Yet again, from your article

Robertson said she's heard general complaints this year but no specific allegations of voter exploitation. Incidents can be reported to the Board of Elections at 678-7733.