House Bill gives people with guardians a vote

SHORELINE — A bill signed into law by Gov. Christine Gregoire that expands voting rights for people with guardians has one eminent outcome.

Voter registration.

House Bill 1876 was strongly supported by members of Voices in Action, a program of Banchero Friends Services (which provides case management services to people with developmental disabilities in north King County) and ARC of Washington State.

Corinne Nelson, 20, is a member of Voices in Action and advocated strongly for the passage of House Bill 1876. She wrote a letter to legislators, stating the importance of allowing people with guardians a voice in government. Nelson, who graduated from Shorecrest High School and is now in a transition program at Shorewood High School, asked that people with disabilities be treated equally.

“All people are allowed freedom of speech as written in the bill of rights,” Nelson wrote in the letter. “If we do not follow this rule, what was the use of writing it.”

Nelson, in fact, opted not to have a guardian because she feared losing the right to vote. She has friends, however, who have guardians and previously were denied the right to vote. She has been a member of Banchero Friends Services for almost one year.

“I was doing it for friends and school mates,” Nelson said about her decision to advocate for House Bill 1876.

Steven Seidelman, 55, is also a member of Voices in Action. He said many people can’t help the way they were born, but nonetheless pay attention to voting. Seidelman has a guardian, and with the passage of House Bill 1876 will now have the right to vote.

“I am not a Republican,” Seidelman said. “Bush took us to war. I don’t like that.”

Voices in Action was recently founded as a program of Banchero Friends Services with the objective of teaching people with developmental disabilities about civic participation. Members learned how to interact with legislators in Olympia and how to support bills that may impact the developmentally disabled community.

Angela Burnside, Voices in Action project coordinator, said a grant was received in December to fund the program, which commenced in January with about 10 developmentally disabled participants. She said because the 2005 Legislative Session had several bills that impacted the developmentally disabled community, House Bill 1876 was selected as a focus of the group’s efforts.

“We selected one specific bill that meant a lot to us, which was House Bill 1876,” Burnside said. “Before, a person with a guardian automatically lost the right to vote.”

Voices in Action members sent personal messages to legislators, but Nelson was the only member who testified in Olympia by reading her letter, Burnside said. The group is divided between members who have the right to vote and members who previously did not. Burnside said in addition to weekly meetings, group members participated in self-advocacy day in Olympia, attended a human services rally in early spring and also a gubernatorial reception.

Burnside said a significant number of people will be impacted by the passage of the bill, as more than half of the developmentally disabled community have guardians.

Although the legislative session has drawn to a close, Voices in Action meetings will continue and Burnside is forming a voting rights class for the developmentally disabled community. She said her long-term goal for Voices in Action is to expand into a state-wide organization.

According to the House Bill 1876 report, an incapacitated person under either limited or full guardianship will not lose the right-to-vote unless a court specifically determines the person to be incapable of rationally exercising the franchise — in that the individual cannot understand the nature and effect of voting and cannot make an individual choice.