Advocates' Ballot Measure Would Erase "Idiot" And "Insane" From New Jersey Laws
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 30, 2007
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY--In 1844, the New Jersey legislature adopted a law to forbid any "idiot or insane person" from voting.
That language is still in the state constitution, 163 years later.
On November 6, New Jersey voters will be given the choice to have that language erased from the books.
Ballot Question Number 4 is the result of months of intense advocacy by people with disabilities and their allies across the state. It reads:
"Shall the amendment of Article II, Section I, paragraph 6 of the Constitution, agreed to by the Legislature, revising the current constitutional language concerning denial of the right to vote by deleting the phrase 'idiot or insane person' and providing instead that a 'person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting' shall not enjoy the right of suffrage, be adopted?"
Disability rights advocates, led by the Monday Morning Project of the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council, persuaded lawmakers of both the state Senate and Assembly to unanimously pass measures to put the question of changing the language to voters.
Diane Jones of The Arc of New Jersey testified before legislators earlier this year.
"I am here to tell you that I do not like the word 'idiot' on the thing," she said. "I want it to be cut out of the New Jersey Constitution. I want everybody to be free and happy and to be just who they are."
Advocates are currently campaigning for voters to vote "yes" to approve the ballot measure.
New Jersey is believed to be one of just six states that still use words such as "idiot" and "insane" in their laws.
Related:
"Editorial: Vote to remove offensive description of voters with disabilities" (East Brunswick Sentinel)
"Editorial: Ballot question No. 4 is long overdue on disabilities issues in New Jersey" (The Hammonton News)
"Ballot Question Number 4" (The Arc of New Jersey)
"Words Can Hurt . . . And That Matters" (New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council)
All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD) is Atlanta's preeminent resource on developmental disabilities, providing support services to families for more than 55 years. We are often the one place where people with developmental disabilities can go to achieve personal empowerment, family stability and community participation. AADD provides family support; public policy and advocacy; and community engagement.
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