Voting Rights and the Special Needs Community #DownSyndrome

by Carrie with Children with 2 comments

Like many of you, my Facebook feed is overrun with differing political views – with things getting pretty heated in the days leading up to today’s election. This morning, one particular political post stood out to me… and honestly, it was something I had never even thought about in year’s past.

Does Molly even have the right to vote?

I Voted Early Sticker

 I encourage you to check out this great blog post from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation entitled “Voting Rights Remain a Struggle For Many People with Down Syndrome“.

I was surprised to see that approximately 30 states have limits to those in the special needs community.  Within the guidelines of the state of Florida – Molly will not have the opportunity to vote.  However, just by moving to another state – Molly could potentially qualify to vote.

It’s disheartening to see the rulings are different across the country.  Every person should have the right to vote.

Kudos to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation for sharing this information.  As a parent to a child with Down syndrome, this was something I hadn’t even thought about before, but it will definitely be of interest to my family as Molly gets closer to turning 18 years old.

I realize I may be opening a can of worms here, but…

 What are your thoughts? 

    Comments

  • becky


    I think anyone can, and more importantly should, vote if they understand what they are voting for. Depending on the levels of the disability (regardless of what it is) may determine the level of help required; however, no one should be denied the birth right of being American.

  • bacteroid


    Great work, pleased to have stumbled on this blog on blogs list.
    This is the sort of content that should be available online.
    It’d be great to see material like this on web 2.0 site list. It’s a disgrace that search
    engines aren’t giving carriewithchildren.com a higher ranking. If you’re interested, please
    come and consult my web site. Kudos