Perceptions of Service Providers Regarding the Agency and Capacity of People with Intellectual Disability to Vote

Although the right to vote is guaranteed for all U.S. citizens of voting age, a significant number of adults with intellectual disability do not vote. The purpose of the present study was to replicate a previous study conducted by Agran, MacLean, and Kitchen-Andren (2015), which examined the extent to which adults with intellectual disability in a sample were registered to vote and if they had received voting-related instruction. Input from direct service provider, case managers, and other stakeholders was obtained, and both statistical and qualitative analyses of respondents' comments were conducted. Last, responses before and after the most recent election were compared to determine if there were changes in attitudes that might be the result of the election. The findings revealed that most clients were not registered to vote, had expressed little interest in voting, and had not received voting-related instruction. The implications of these findings are discussed.