Washington, D.C. — A new report from the Center for American Progress finds that guardianship laws across the United States systematically disenfranchise disabled Americans, denying them access to the ballot and undermining core democratic principles.
The analysis highlights that in many states, people placed under guardianship lose their voting rights automatically or at the discretion of a judge or guardian, even though guardianship systems are inconsistent, overbroad, and rarely subject to meaningful oversight. These practices pose a growing threat to disabled voters.
“Guardianship laws continue to deny many disabled Americans their fundamental right to vote,” said Casey Doherty, policy analyst for the Disability Justice Initiative at CAP and author of the report. “These systems make it far too easy to remove someone’s political agency and far too difficult to restore it.”
The CAP report finds:
- Guardianship can strip voting rights entirely: Many states automatically revoke voting rights when a person is placed under guardianship, while others allow judges broad discretion to remove those rights based on vague and discriminatory standards such as “capacity” or “mental incompetence.”
- The scope of disenfranchisement is unknown due to a lack of data: Nationwide estimates are outdated and incomplete, and no federal agency systematically tracks guardianship decisions or their impact on voting.
- State law is a confusing patchwork: Nine states bar people under guardianship from voting; nine states impose no restrictions; the remainder rely on inconsistent judicial determinations that vary widely across counties and courts.
- Guardianship is routinely overused: Full guardianships remain the dominant model nationwide, even though 84 percent of jurisdictions claim courts must consider less restrictive alternatives.
- Recent legislative activity shows rising attention but limited progress: Since 2023, at least 52 bills in 20 states and at the federal level have addressed guardianship and voting rights. Only seven state bills have become law, and few expand rights or restore autonomy.
- Discriminatory terminology remains enshrined in law: Outdated and stigmatizing language such as “mentally incompetent,” “non compos mentis,” or “idiot or insane person” remains in numerous state statutes and some state constitutions.
The report offers a comprehensive set of federal and state policy recommendations, including strengthening due process protections, modernizing guardianship law, expanding the use of supported decision-making, funding accessible voter education, improving data collection and oversight, and eliminating laws that automatically disenfranchise people under guardianship.
Read the full report: “Democracy Denied for Disabled Americans: Guardianship and the Right To Vote” by Casey Doherty
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact
Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].