Democracy Denied for Disabled Americans: Guardianship and the Right To Vote

Disabled Americans have long faced barriers to voting, and recently enacted anti-voting state laws have increased these barriers. A total of 79 restrictive voting laws were passed between 2021 and 2024, including constraints on who is allowed to assist with completing and returning a disabled person’s ballot in both Texas and Georgia in 2021. President Donald Trump is also considering ways to eliminate mail-in voting, which would add to disabled voters’ current voting barriers that already include physically inaccessible polling places and heightened health risks. At the same time, some members of the disability community have already had their voting rights stripped entirely due to state guardianship laws. In many states, people under guardianship are automatically barred from voting or may lose their rights at the discretion of a judge or guardian. Guardianship can have sweeping consequences for the civil rights of people with disabilities, including the loss of autonomy, privacy, and political participation.

As part of the Center for American Progress’ continued work on disabled people’s access to democracy, this report analyzes how guardianships can significantly restrict the voting rights of people with disabilities. It explores the legal processes by which guardianships are initiated and how these processes can result in the loss of voting rights; the lack of comprehensive data on guardianship; and the inconsistent and inequitable ways voting restrictions are applied across states. The report documents how state-level policies curtail voting access and analyzes recent legislative activity on the voting rights of people under guardianship. It also offers policy recommendations around ensuring voting rights are preserved, expanding the use of supported decision-making (SDM), and strengthening oversight of guardianship proceedings. Ultimately, policymakers should work to eliminate the use of guardianships and move to SDM agreements.

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