A reader was last week encouraged by The New York Times to “help” a 97-year-old female who is “becoming almost impossible to communicate with” finish her ballot.  ,
” When the condition is blurry, my impulse would be to err on the side of helping people to ballot, because election is such a main form of political participation”, wrote the Times ‘ “Ethicist” Columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah.
The Trouble
A user wrote the Times, saying the mother has “advanced” Alzheimer’s and hear damage. The audience was interested in knowing if it would be “unethical” to support the old woman in November by having her do” the mechanics of voting” while household members “assist her”
The user claimed to have assisted the grandmother in completing her 2020 absentee ballot.
She remained seated while we attempted to explain each department and problem. If there was any misunderstandings, we may tell her how we voted, and she would do the same”, the user wrote. Is it irresponsible to support her in November for another election?”
The old woman’s” consciousness was in decline four years ago, but it is not as degraded as it is now,” the user wrote.
The audience wrote,” I foresee stuff playing out also to the last general election, in which she performs the mechanics of voting while we advise her.” We were sufficiently knowledgeable about her social views before her condition to decide who and what she had support. However, I’m also aware that the distinction between force and support is unclear in this situation.
Maybe Illegal Advice
Appiah responded by cutting bristles at earliest.  ,
” She’s just doing what anybody else does if your mother is also able to check the boxes and mark the vote as an expression of her options.” Under those conditions, she’s entitled to vote with your help”, wrote Appiah. ” If she does n’t understand what she’s doing, though, she is n’t really voting, voting is the expression of a political choice, and it would be wrong to record a vote that did n’t reflect her actual choices”.
When the matter is unclear, though, Appiah advised to “err on the side of helping someone to vote”, claiming its high importance to” civic participation” . ,
In New York state rules, anyone who “votes or offers or attempts to ballot at an vote under any other name other than his own” and anyone who “aids in doing or attempted to do a false action in connection with an earlier mail or absentee ballot cast or attempted to be cast” is categorized as a voter.
Additionally, New York law forbids those who are “adjudged ignorant by purchase of a court of competent criminal power” from registering to vote.
While” some states forbid citizens from voting when they are under guardianship or have been found incompetent, but it wo n’t do so for those who have mild cognitive impairments,” said Appiah. The simple act of election may have greater impact than any other choices it conveys, according to your mother, as for so many others around the world.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission harmed state law by allowing staff at a Racine County nursing home to assist with voter registration at the 2020 presidential election, many of whom had significant memory problems.
According to an investigation, nursing home staff “ask people how they voted in the past and therefore vote according to that group,” according to a report from The Federalist. According to Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, an “election act was in fact not only broken, but shattered by people of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.”
The Federalist contacted Appiah to inquire if he was concerned that his advice may unintentionally violate election rules, but he did not respond in time for publication.
Logan Washburn is a staff writer who writes about poll ethics. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s journal assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan was born and raised in remote Michigan, but he is primarily from Central Oregon.
