La. Admin. Code tit. 48 § IX-509

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section IX-509 - Voting Rights

A. Voting by residents of state-operated facilities for mentally retarded/developmentally disabled persons.

B. The purpose of this policy/procedure is to assist eligible residents of state-operated residential facilities for mentally retarded/developmentally disabled persons to register to vote and to vote.

C. This policy applies to all state-operated residential facilities for mentally retarded/developmentally disabled persons.

D. Every resident of a state-operated facility for mentally retarded/ developmentally disabled persons, upon reaching 18 years of age, shall have the right to register and vote, except that this right may be suspended while a resident is interdicted and judicially declared mentally incompetent or is under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony.

E. Procedures

1. All residents 18 years of age or older who have not had the right to vote suspended through interdiction and have not been convicted of a felony are eligible to vote.

2. Staff will determine whether or not a client is eligible to vote by reviewing the client's records.

3. Residents who are eligible to vote will be informed of their right to vote in accordance with Medicaid regulations 45 CFR 442.404(d).

4. Residents who are eligible to vote and who ask to register to vote or to vote will be provided transportation to and from the registrar's office or the polls.

5. If residents are to be transported in large groups (more than three per group) the registrar's office of polling place will be notified in order to minimize problems.

6. Staff will not provide assistance to residents in registering to vote or in voting while at the registrar's office or the polls. Assistance in mobility may be provided to handicapped persons in wheelchairs.

7. Nothing in this policy is intended to inhibit facilities from teaching residents the skills necessary to vote in accordance with Medicaid regulation 45 CFR 442.404(d) . Rather, such training is encouraged. Such training shall not extend to any attempt to influence any resident's vote either for or against any candidate or proposition.

La. Admin. Code tit. 48, § IX-509

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities, LR 13:246 (April 1987).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R. S. 36:1 et seq.