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Voting rights and intellectual disability in Australia: An illegal and unjustified denial of rights

Jonathon Savery

The Sydney Law Review2015article
ABDC A*
Weight
0.56

Abstract

In Australia, persons with intellectual disabilities are denied the right to vote by s 93(8) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth), which excludes persons of 'unsound mind' from the electoral roll. It is argued in this comment that s 93(8) is both illegal and unjustified. This provision contravenes international law; the right to vote is enshrined in numerous international legal instruments, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ('CRPD') specifically guarantees this right for persons with disabilities. In a recent decision by that Convention's Committee, it was stated unequivocally that the CRPD does not allow for any restrictions on the voting rights of persons with disabilities. This comment also considers the two predominant non-legal rationales for s 93(8), namely threats to the integrity of the electoral process, and concerns that persons with intellectual disabilities may be unfairly fined for failing to vote. The first is unsupported by evidence, while the second can be addressed using less restrictive means. Neither is sufficient to support the denial of a fundamental democratic right to an entire class of persons. In light of these arguments, it is concluded that s 93(8) and its supporting provisions should be repealed.

6 citations

Cite this paper

@article{jonathon2015,
  title        = {{Voting rights and intellectual disability in Australia: An illegal and unjustified denial of rights}},
  author       = {Jonathon Savery},
  journal      = {The Sydney Law Review},
  year         = {2015},
}

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Voting rights and intellectual disability in Australia: An illegal and unjustified denial of rights

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Evidence weight

0.56

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

F · citation impact0.59 × 0.4 = 0.23
M · momentum0.70 × 0.15 = 0.10
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.