Citizens with learning disabilities and the right to vote

Abstract

This paper asks, in the context of recent legislative changes, what can be done to support more citizens in England and Wales with learning disabilities to vote in national elections? This issue is addressed through (i) a review of recent disability access campaigns that have reported discrimination against, and the under‐representation of, adults with disabilities in UK elections; (ii) a review of recent research undertaken in the USA into the assessment of competence to vote and research undertaken in England that conclusively documents the under‐representation of voters with learning disabilities in the 2005 general election. It is proposed that a ‘functional approach’ to developing an individual's capacity to vote could help to fulfil Article 29 of the United Nations' Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities that gives all people the same political rights.

Keywords:

• mental capacity
• disability
• voting
• citizenship
• learning disability

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my colleagues Lydia Luke, Helen Keeley, Isabel Clare and Tony Holland in the Learning Disabilities Research Group at the University of Cambridge, who, showing a keen interest in this paper, have shared their thoughts on this topic with me.