Cognitive Impairment and the Right to Vote

Linda Barclay (Monash University)

Note: Work in Progress Talk

Abstract: Most countries deny people with cognitive impairment the right to vote. Most democratic theory on the franchise also casually excludes such individuals from the entitlement to vote. Disability advocates have increasingly objected to the denial of political rights to people with disability, culminating in a clear statement in the recent Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that all adults should have the same right to vote, whatever their disability status. I shall offer a strategic defence of universal enfranchisement, one that avoids philosophical arguments which are very problematic from a disability rights perspective.