{"id":2340333,"date":"2024-09-12T17:12:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T21:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nyt-its-ok-to-help-mentally-incapacitated-relatives-with-ballots\/"},"modified":"2024-09-12T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T21:18:22","slug":"nyt-its-ok-to-help-mentally-incapacitated-relatives-with-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nyt-its-ok-to-help-mentally-incapacitated-relatives-with-ballots\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT: It&#8217;s OK To &#8216;Help&#8217; Mentally Incapacitated Relatives With Ballots"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnyt-its-ok-to-help-mentally-incapacitated-relatives-with-ballots%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2340333&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u200cNew York Times recently addressed a dilemma posed by a reader about helping a \u200d97-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer&#8217;s disease to\u200c vote. The reader, who had assisted the grandmother in\u200b filling out her absentee ballot during the last election, expressed\u200b concern \u2063over the ethics of guiding her again due to her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-joe-bidens-senior-moment-of-the-week-vol-27\/\" title=\"WATCH: Joe Biden&#039;s Senior Moment of the Week (Vol. 27)\">declining cognitive abilities<\/a>. The\u200c reader intended to have the \u200bgrandmother physically perform the mechanics of voting while providing advice\u200d on candidates and issues, acknowledging the\u200d fine line between \u2062assistance \u2063and coercion.<\/p>\n<p>In his response, ethicist Kwame Anthony\u2064 Appiah emphasized\u2062 that if \u2063the grandmother can still comprehend and express her voting choices, help is appropriate. However, if\u2064 she lacks understanding, she isn&#8217;t \u200dtruly voting, and recording\u2064 a vote that does not reflect her genuine preferences would be unethical. Appiah ultimately concluded\u200b that when in doubt, it is \u2063better to lean towards facilitating a person&#8217;s ability to\u2062 vote, underlining the civic\u2062 importance of participation. He also noted potential legal implications, as New York law prohibits voting under a false name or assisting in fraudulent voting activities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The New York Times encouraged a reader last week to &ldquo;help&rdquo; a 97-year-old woman with advanced memory loss &mdash; who is &ldquo;becoming nearly impossible to communicate with&rdquo; &mdash; to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/06\/magazine\/grandma-dementia-voting-help-ethics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complete<\/a> her ballot.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When the situation is hazy, my inclination would be to err on the side of helping someone to vote, because voting is such a central form of civic participation,&rdquo; wrote the Times&rsquo; &ldquo;Ethicist&rdquo; Columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah.<\/p>\n<h2>The Problem<\/h2>\n<p>A reader wrote the Times, saying the grandmother has &ldquo;advanced&rdquo; Alzheimer&rsquo;s and hearing loss. The reader wanted to know if it would be &ldquo;unethical&rdquo; to help the elderly woman vote in November, likely having the grandma  do &ldquo;the mechanics of voting&rdquo; while family members &ldquo;advise her.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The reader claimed to have helped the grandmother fill out her absentee ballot in 2020.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;She held the pen while we did our best to explain each office and issue. If there was any confusion, we would tell her how we voted, and she would do the same,&rdquo; the reader wrote. &ldquo;Is it unethical to help her vote again this November?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The reader wrote that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alsobrookss-crime-record-challenges-her-tough-on-crime-persona-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Alsobrooks&#039;s crime record challenges her tough-on-crime persona - Washington Examiner\">elderly woman&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s &ldquo;cognition was in decline four years ago, but it was not as degraded as it is now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;I foresee things playing out similarly to the last general election, in which she performs the mechanics of voting while we advise her,&rdquo; the reader wrote. &ldquo;Before her illness, we were familiar enough with her political opinions to be reasonably confident about whom and what she would vote for. But I&rsquo;m also conscious of the fact that the line between assistance and coercion is blurred in this situation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Possibly Illegal Advice<\/h2>\n<p>Appiah responded by splitting hairs &mdash; at first.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If your grandmother is still able to check the boxes and sign the ballot as an expression of her choices, she&rsquo;s just doing what anybody else does. Under those circumstances, she&rsquo;s entitled to vote with your assistance,&rdquo; wrote Appiah. &ldquo;If she doesn&rsquo;t understand what she&rsquo;s doing, though, she isn&rsquo;t really voting; voting is the expression of a political choice, and it would be wrong to record a vote that didn&rsquo;t reflect her actual choices.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When the matter is unclear, though, Appiah advised to &ldquo;err on the side of helping someone to vote,&rdquo; claiming its high importance to &ldquo;civic participation.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>New York <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/ELN\/17-132\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state law<\/a> classifies anyone who &ldquo;votes or offers or attempts to vote at an election under any other name than his own&rdquo; and anyone who &ldquo;aids in doing or attempting to do a fraudulent act in connection with an early mail or absentee vote cast or attempted to be cast,&rdquo; as a perpetrator of &ldquo;illegal voting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>New York <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/ELN\/5-106\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">law<\/a> also bars those &ldquo;adjudged incompetent by order of a court of competent judicial authority&rdquo; from registering to vote.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;Various states exclude citizens from voting when they are under guardianship or have been judged to be incompetent, but it won&rsquo;t do to shut out people with mild cognitive impairments,&rdquo; Appiah said. &ldquo;For your grandmother, as for so many people around the world, the simple act of voting may have greater significance than whatever choices it conveys.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In the 2020 presidential race, the Wisconsin Elections Commission broke state law, allowing staff in a Racine County nursing home to help <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/29\/wisconsin-elections-commission-shattered-laws-by-telling-nursing-home-staffers-to-illegally-cast-ballots-for-residents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fill out<\/a> ballots on behalf of residents, many of whom had severe memory issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>An investigation revealed nursing home employees would &ldquo;ask residents how they voted in the past and then vote according to that party,&rdquo; as The Federalist previously reported. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said at the time that an &ldquo;election statute was in fact not just broken, but shattered by members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist asked Appiah if he was concerned his guidance might lead people to inadvertently break election laws, but he did not comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Times recently advised a reader to assist a 97-year-old woman suffering from severe memory loss\u2014who is becoming increasingly difficult to communicate with\u2014in casting her vote. Kwame Anthony Appiah, the Times&#8217; &#8220;Ethicist&#8221; columnist, expressed that in uncertain situations, he would lean towards helping someone vote since it is a vital aspect of civic engagement.<\/p>\n<p>The issue arose when a reader reached out to the Times regarding their grandmother, who has advanced Alzheimer&#8217;s and hearing difficulties. The reader was concerned about whether it would be &#8220;unethical&#8221; to help her vote in the upcoming November election by guiding her through the voting process while she physically marked her ballot. They mentioned having assisted her with an absentee ballot in 2020, where she held the pen as they explained each choice and shared how they voted if she seemed confused.<\/p>\n<p>The reader noted that while their grandmother&#8217;s cognitive abilities were declining four years ago, they were still confident about her political preferences at that time. They anticipated a similar approach for this election but acknowledged the fine line between providing assistance and exerting coercion.<\/p>\n<p>In his response, Appiah initially focused on distinguishing between valid assistance and potential manipulation. He stated that if the grandmother could understand what she was doing\u2014checking boxes and signing\u2014then helping her vote would be appropriate. However, if she lacked comprehension of the process, then recording such a vote wouldn&#8217;t truly reflect her choices.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these nuances, Appiah suggested leaning towards aiding someone in voting when circumstances are unclear due to its significance for civic participation. He also highlighted legal concerns surrounding voting rights for individuals deemed incompetent or under guardianship in various states.<\/p>\n<p>Appiah pointed out that while some states restrict voting rights based on cognitive impairments or guardianship status, excluding those with mild cognitive issues could be problematic. He emphasized that for many individuals like this grandmother around the world, simply participating in an election holds profound meaning beyond just expressing specific choices.<\/p>\n<p>In related news from 2020 involving Wisconsin&#8217;s elections, there were instances where nursing home staff helped residents fill out ballots despite many having serious memory problems\u2014a situation which led to legal scrutiny over potential violations of election laws. When asked whether he was worried his advice might inadvertently lead people into breaking such laws during elections, Appiah did not respond before publication deadlines.<\/p>\n<p>Logan Washburn is a staff writer focusing on election integrity issues; he has previously contributed to several notable publications and currently resides in rural Michigan after growing up in Central Oregon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2340334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4451081974_669ac43c5c_k-e1666127888937.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[32479,40767,40768,35390,32570],"class_list":["post-2340333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-ballot-access","tag-election-assistance","tag-family-support","tag-mental-health","tag-voting-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4451081974_669ac43c5c_k-e1666127888937.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}