SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California judge restored the voting rights of a man with a traumatic brain injury after expressing doubts about his ability to communicate but saying she was bound by a new state law that makes it easier for people with developmental disabilities to cast a ballot.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Julia C. Kelety raised concern that David Rector’s conservator and fiancee, Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik, might attribute a level of cognition to Rector that he lacks and that Rector’s votes may reflect her preferences, not his.
But the judge said in her order dated Tuesday that she didn’t have evidence to support her doubts and lacked resources to investigate.
Alexander-Kasparik said Wednesday that she was delighted Rector can vote again.
“It means the world,” she said.
Under the California law that took effect Jan. 1, people with disabilities who are assigned conservators to manage their affairs can keep or restore the right to vote unless a court finds “clear and convincing evidence” that the person cannot express a desire to exercise it.
