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Supporting or subordinating? Scope of Assisted Voting and Proxy Voting for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities under the Australian Constitution

Reece Maclean Blackett

Federal Law Review2026https://doi.org/10.1017/fed.2025.10016article
ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This article examines the adoption of voting methods designed to support individuals with intellectual disabilities in elections. It focuses on two widely used approaches, frequently explored in scholarly discourse: assisted voting and proxy voting. Both of these voting methods rely on third-party involvement and therefore require the consideration of the prohibition of plural voting in the Australian Constitution. The article concludes that while assisted voting and a limited form of proxy voting-where the proxy must strictly follow the elector’s explicit instructions-are constitutional, proxy voting becomes unconstitutional if the elector is unable to communicate their electoral judgment. Assisted voting therefore emerges as the most practical and constitutionally compliant option.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/fed.2025.10016

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@article{reece2026,
  title        = {{Supporting or subordinating? Scope of Assisted Voting and Proxy Voting for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities under the Australian Constitution}},
  author       = {Reece Maclean Blackett},
  journal      = {Federal Law Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/fed.2025.10016},
}

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Supporting or subordinating? Scope of Assisted Voting and Proxy Voting for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities under the Australian Constitution

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.