Votes for Nuts?
Apparently, there are people who believe that only the mentally fit should be allowed to vote. Joseph DeLorenzo, Chairman of the Cranston, Rhode Island, Board of Canvassers is one of them:
"I just think if you are declared insane you should not be allowed to vote, period. …Is insanity a disability? I have an answer to that: no. You're insane; you're nuts."
He adds:
"We don't need the additional burden of worrying whether an incompetent child murderer's vote might affect the outcome of a close School Committee or other local race."
Ah yes, the ever-burdensome "mentally-ill swing vote" could put Mrs. Johnston over the top in the race for school board. How will she sleep at night knowing that some wacko might have tipped the scales in her favor?
If we allow people in authority to decide who qualifies to vote for what they know or don't know; what they understand or don't understand; or what they believe or don't believe, we could return to tests like these.
Why should competence be a requirement for voting, anyway? It certainly isn't a requirement for office.
More from the reason archives on the loony bin.
