Editors of the Des Moines Register urge voters to approve a measure that would remove the word ‘idiot’ from a section of  the Iowa Constitution that describes people who are declared ineligible to vote. An excerpt:

Iowa voters in this election have the opportunity to change the words “idiot or insane” to “a person adjudged mentally incompetent to vote.” It’s a change worth making. The new language targets a narrower population without making harsh and unfair judgments. And it achieves the point of the amendment, which is to deny the vote to people who are declared incapable of making an informed judgment.

It is worth thinking about whether an amendment belongs in the Constitution at all denying the vote to anyone based on diminished mental capacity, which is a relative thing. Also, in this section, the right to vote is denied to convicted felons, even those who have served their sentences, which is wrong. But those are questions for another day. For now, the language of the Iowa Constitution should be devoid of language that is seen as belittling.

See also: Iowans to consider removing ‘idiot clause’ — Des Moines Register

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Campaign 2008, commentary, intellectual/developmental disabilities, language. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.