State to Decide if 'Idiots' Can Vote
Mon Nov 4, 8:55 AM ET
By Zelie Pollon
SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - New Mexico voters will decide on Tuesday whether they want "idiots" and "insane persons" to vote in their state.
Under the state's Constitution, drafted in 1912, "idiots" and "insane persons," as well as those "convicted of a felonious or infamous crime" are currently prohibited from voting.
Proposed Amendment 2 on the November 5 ballot would strike the terms "idiots" and "insane persons" from the Constitution. The measure will better reflect current understanding of mental health and remove archaic language, supporters said.
"There are so many varieties of mental illness with people who are perfectly capable of making a decision," said Bureau of Elections official Denise Lamb.
"I'm more worried about unstable people with guns than I am about unstable people voting," Lamb said.
The same type of amendment, with different wording, was on the ballot once before in the mid 1990s but did not pass because voters interpreted the wording as denying people a right to vote, Lamb said.
"I think it's good to bring your Constitution more in line with reality," she said.
The state's nonpartisan research group, Legislative Council Services, said the arguments in favor of the amendment are that it will remove wording that is "archaic, offensive and meaningless from the list of people ineligible to vote."
"The terms 'idiots' and 'insane persons' may not have been considered offensive in 1912, but today they are an embarrassment," the group said in a guide to voters.
It said the opposing argument suggests that removing the terms "without replacing it with terms that more accurately reflect contemporary understanding of mental health may be too sweeping a change."
The proposed amendment also lowers the voting age from 21 to 18 years, bringing the voting age in compliance with federal requirements.
Early voter Kathleen MacRae said changing the language made sense to her.
"I'm for liberalizing all voting laws. Voting should be open and easy for everyone," she said. "And God knows there are already a lot of idiots voting."
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