General Right to Vote
Electoral Law
Representation of the People Act
(31 October 1975)

• See section 8

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Constitution
(31 July 1981)

• Section 30, subsection 1 states, “No person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Senator who ... (d) is a person certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind.”
• Section  39, subsection 1 states, “No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the House who...(d) is a person certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind.”

Electoral Law
Representation of the People (Amendment) Act
(2001)

• Section 17 states, “A person is disqualified from being registered as an elector and shall not be so registered if he...(a) is a person certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be a person of unsound mind under any enactment in force in Antigua and Barbuda.”

Exclusion Based on Physical Disability
Constitution
(31 July 1981)

• Section 29 (Qualifications for Appointment as Senators) states, “Subject to provisions of section 30 of this Constitution, any person who at the date of his appointment...(c) is able to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with sufficient proficiency to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of the Senate.”
• Section 38 (Qualifications for Election as a Member of the House) states, “Subject to provisions of section 39 of this Constitution, any person who at the date of his election...(c) is able to speak, and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with sufficient proficiency to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of the House."

Voter Assistance
Electoral Law
Representation of the People Act
(31 October 1975)

• Section 30, subsection (1) states, “The presiding officer shall regulate the number of voters to be admitted to the polling station at the same time and shall exclude all other persons except...(e) the companions of blind voters.”
• Section 44, subsection (1) states, “The presiding officer, on the application of, (a) a person who is incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause from voting in manner directed by these rules or (b) a voter that declares orally that he is unable to read, shall, in the presence of the polling agents, cause the vote of the voter to be marked on a ballot paper in the manner directed by the voter.”
• For more specific procedures on voting by blind individuals, see section 45.
• Form No. 8 (included at the end of the election law) is the form of declaration to be made by the companion of a blind voter.

Off-Site Voting Alternatives
Electoral Law
Representation of the People Act
(31 October 1975)

• Section 11, subsection 1 states, "all persons voting as electors...shall do so in person at the polling station...except...for those unable ... to do so in person for one of the following reasons: ...(iii) that a person is unable or likely to be unable by reason of blindness to vote unaided."
• Section 11, subsection 2 states, “Any of the persons mentioned in paragraphs (i) and (ii) may vote by proxy,” but has no mention of special provisions for blind citizens mentioned in paragraph (iii).

• Constitution - http://pdba.georgetown.edu/constitutions/antigua/antigua-barbuda.html
• Representation of the People Act - http://www.laws.gov.ag/acts/chapters/cap-379.pdf
• Representation of the People (Amendment) Act - http://www.antiguaelections.com/information/pdf/RepresentationOfThePeopleAct2001.pdf