In Some States, Having a Guardian Means Not Having a Vote - The New York Times

More than a million Americans, many with disabilities, live under a court-approved guardianship. Many states block them from voting. By Rachel Nostrant When Nicole Noblet’s parents told her they planned to move the family to Missouri to retire, she worried that the move from Minnesota could affect her rights. So she did some research. What she learned dismayed her: Because of the voluntary guardianship she had entered into with her parents, Ms. Noblet, now 32, wouldn’t be allowed to cast a ballot in her new state. She told her parents she wanted to revisit their legal arrangement, a common one for people with disabilities that allows them to make health care and financial decisions for her. “I said, ‘Nobody is going to take away my right to vote.’” Missouri is one of at least seven states, according to the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, that say that, unless a judge decides otherwise, anyone under a guardianship agreement cannot cast a ballot. Guardianships, and similar arrangem

More than a million Americans, many with disabilities, live under a court-approved guardianship. Many states block them from voting. By Rachel Nostrant When Nicole Noblet’s parents told her they planned to move the family to Missouri to retire, she worried that the move from Minnesota could affect her rights. So she did some research. What she learned dismayed her: Because of the voluntary guardianship she had entered into with her parents, Ms. Noblet, now 32, wouldn’t be allowed to cast a ballot in her new state. She told her parents she wanted to revisit their legal arrangement, a common one