Voting and mental capacity

Redley, Marcus; Hughes, Julian C.; Holland, Anthony

doi:10.1136/bmj.c4085

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…A similar pattern (choice considerably less impaired than understanding) has previously been reported by US investigators [5]. In their study, however, the percentage of AD patients who failed to fulfil the Doe standard was lower than that seen in our study (55% versus 68%), and there was a much more substantial link between declining voting capacity and increasing dementia severity ( r = 0.87 versus 0.61).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Evaluating Voting Competence in Persons with Alzheimer Disease

Tiraboschi

Chitò

Sacco

et al. 2011

International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

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Voting by persons with dementia raises questions about their decision-making capacity. Methods specifically addressing voting capacity of demented people have been proposed in the US, but never tested elsewhere. We translated and adapted the US Competence Assessment Tool for Voting (CAT-V) to the Italian context, using it before 2006 elections for Prime Minister. Consisting of a brief questionnaire, this tool evaluates the following decision-making abilities: understanding nature and effect of voting, expressing a choice, and reasoning about voting choices. Subjects' performance was examined in relation to dementia severity. Of 38 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) enrolled in the study, only three scored the maximum on all CAT-V items. MMSE and CAT-V scores correlated only moderately (r = 0.59; P < 0.0001) with one another, reflecting the variability of subjects' performance at any disease stage. Most participants (90%), although performing poorly on understanding and reasoning items, scored the maximum on the choice measure. Our results imply that voting capacity in AD is only roughly predicted by MMSE scores and may more accurately be measured by a structured questionnaire, such as the CAT-V. Among the decision-making abilities evaluated by the CAT-V, expressing a choice was by far the least affected by the dementing process.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Evaluating Voting Competence in Persons with Alzheimer Disease

Tiraboschi

Chitò

Sacco

et al. 2011

International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

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“…In order to measure the accuracy of legal restrictions on the vote, we can distinguish between two cases in order to capture the ‘uneasy tension’ between cognitive diagnosis and capacity to vote (Redley et al ., 2010: 466). The first is when the vote is restricted on the basis of some conception of capacity to vote.…”

Section: The Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Accuracy of Electoral Regulations: The Case of the Right to Vote by People with Cognitive Impairments

Beckman¹

2013

Social Policy & Society

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“…People with dementia or an intellectual disability have also been identified as a group in which many may have wanted to vote and had the capacity to do so, but may not have had the opportunity. 22 There may be other reasons that affect registration behaviour that we have not recognised, and there are barriers to voting once registered that remain unclear. There appears to be a role here for qualitative research to further explore these factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uptake and knowledge of voting rights by adult in-patients during the 2010 UK general election

Yelamanchili

Naz

et al. 2012

Psychiatrist

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Aims and methodThis study explores knowledge and uptake of the voting rights of adult in-patients in the 2010 UK general election. A clinician-completed survey was used.ResultsEligible to vote psychiatric adult in-patients were half as likely to register as the general population and half as likely to vote if registered. Nine out of ten of those unregistered cited a lack of knowledge of their eligibility to vote or of the registration process. Long-stay patients were particularly disenfranchised.Clinical implicationsMany patients and staff remain unaware of the new rules which have given a greater proportion of in-patients the right to vote and have simplified the registration and voting processes. This information barrier may be addressed in future elections by providing timely written information to both patients and staff. Once registered, patients may need further support to overcome practical and psychological barriers, and cast their vote.

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Voting and mental capacity

Abstract: Voting is a political right, not a matter of competence to make decisions

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Evaluating Voting Competence in Persons with Alzheimer Disease

Evaluating Voting Competence in Persons with Alzheimer Disease

The Accuracy of Electoral Regulations: The Case of the Right to Vote by People with Cognitive Impairments

Uptake and knowledge of voting rights by adult in-patients during the 2010 UK general election

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