South Africa: Criminals Can Vote, but Psychiatric Patients Are Still Barred

analysis

All societies impose age thresholds for activities regarded as an adult and a universal adult franchise should be just that - universal.

In a disturbing about-turn that defied the recommendations of both the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Human Rights Commission, Parliament has passed the Electoral Amendment Bill without any amendment of two clauses in the Electoral Act that bar anyone "detained" in a psychiatric hospital or "declared to be of unsound mind or mentally disordered" from taking part in the electoral process.

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