by Zach Bigalke

Created on: July 29, 2007

Mental illness comes in many shapes and forms. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a mental illness. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental illness. Social anxiety is a mental illness. Depression and hypertension are mental illnesses. Stating that all Americans suffering from one form or another of mental illness would exclude a large swath of society from the right to vote (or, increasingly for the general public, NOT to vote). I understand that the current president/vice president have set grave and disturbing precedent for subverting the Constitution, but this presents a worse perversion and abridgment of our liberties than any preceding era.

We as a nation need more people to show up to the polling booths. We need a louder voice encompassing a greater slice of our society to play a precedental role in our political structure. When we get to the point where the lesser classes allow the top one-percent to represent the interests of the public-at-large, we resign ourselves to corporate aristocracy. Americans are following the wolf in shepherd's clothing like the meek flock we have become. A large portion of our public appears too immersed in such inanities about whether celebrities should go to jail or skirt the law, neglecting the rape and pillage of the foundation upon which all this fluff and flutter has been constructed. When anyone makes it out to vote it should be celebrated.

Arguments supporting such an abridgment of rights center around the fact that those with mental illnesses could be easily duped into supporting one candidate or another. To this I utter, "WAKE UP!" The American public as a whole has become collectively more susceptible to the flashy gimmicks of hucksters. Remember, the generation currently in power was duped into RE-ELECTING a certain crook named Nixon thirty-five years ago. We are currently embroiled in a pitiful orchestration of hubris by our current chief executive. If being easily duped into electing a rube is a symptom of mental illness, than I think America needs to swallow its pride and visit a psychiatrist!

And how would mental illness be defined, anyway? No matter where the cut-off point falls, there will be grave discrimination. A system of exemptions would favor some (perhaps those depressed doctors who can afford to pop their pills and cut fat donation checks?) while excluding the rest. Sadly, the reality is that most of these people will choose, whether through sheer apathy or disgruntled bitterness or willful ignorance or some other of the myriad reasons, to stay away from polling stations on election day. There is no need for an exclusionary law - those Americans who have no business at the voting booth stay away from the voting booth. That is the real illness, and it is an illness from which our country is becoming necrotic. If Americans truly uttered their feelings, it is unlikely that we would have only two choices in any given election...

Mentally-ill people should be allowed to vote. They should be encouraged to vote. Hell, it seems like America needs to be encouraged to vote. We need to make voting a pleasurable experience. We need to put real choice back into elections. We need to hear the greater voice of America. If we ever consider waiving voting rights for people due to their state of health, we will topple all that has been so difficultly won in the quest for greater equality for all Americans - and we will cease to grasp the tenuous thread of democracy...

Learn more about this author, Zach Bigalke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.