Lunacy on loose in capital

Let’s turn our attention, for a moment, to idiocy and insanity.

If you fall into one of those categories, you’re not supposed to be voting in Ohio’s elections. Article V, Section 6 of the state constitution reads, “No idiot, or insane person, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.”

The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, the voter-created panel that has been considering ways to update the state constitution, has been considering the idiot section for a couple of years now.

Members of a committee of the commission recommend eliminating or updating the outdated terminology.

It’s not really a laughing matter. Such words were used in eras past to describe people with mental illnesses or other deficiencies.

That doesn’t mean the original provision in the constitution was totally out of order. According to commission documents, “The clear purpose of the provision is to disqualify from voting persons who are mentally incapacitated.”

It’s not the first time state officials have moved to remove potentially offensive terms from state law or other official documents.

You may recall, back in 2007, lawmakers worked to eliminate more than 50 references to idiots, imbeciles, lunatics and drunkards that appeared in Ohio Revised Code. The terms were replaced with “incompetent” or other phrases noting an individual’s mental illness.

A couple of years later, lawmakers opted to remove “retardation” from state and county agency names, noting the stigma that the word and its derivatives carry.

This month, the constitution commission was set to consider a repeal of Article V, Section 6, with a majority of committee members recommending new language: “The General Assembly shall provide that no person who has been determined under law to lack the mental capacity to vote shall have the rights and privileges of an elector during the time of incapacity.”

DISAGREEMENT

While members agree that the existing terminology is offensive and should be changed, some disagree on whether to replace it.

Sen. Mike Skindell, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, offered substitute language, stipulating that legal determinations would have to be made on voters’ lack of mental capacity.

In reality, Skindell said, there’s really no need to replace the existing language, since existing state law already handles the voting privileges of people who are incapacitated.

On the one side, members like Skindell and Clyde are concerned that disabled Ohioans will be deprived of their right to vote, run for public office or otherwise exercise the privileges of an elector.

On the other side are members who say the changes wouldn’t disenfranchise eligible voters. The General Assembly still would have to act on any related laws. Apparently, the issue was thoroughly debated at the committee level, and a majority of those members supported the changes.

But the full commission spent an hour and a half or so rehashing that debate, prompting Judge Patrick Fischer to offer, “What are we doing if we continue to debate this word for word?”

In the end, the commission voted in favor of the change, but there weren’t enough members present for final approval.

Which means they’ll have to gather again in the future and redebate the issue, if they decide to pursue it.

Talk about insanity.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.