Ballots for Bullets? Disabled Veterans and the Right to Vote

48 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2014 Last revised: 20 Sep 2014

Date Written: August 7, 2014

Abstract

Over 100,000 veterans lived in a government-funded home after the Civil War. Despite sacrificing their bodies for the preservation of the nation, these veterans lost the right to vote. This disfranchisement challenges the conventional wisdom that disabled veterans occupied a privileged position in society, politics, and law. Instead, their disability status trumped their military history, and they became part of a set of dependent, disabled people rendered placeless and vote-less by state law.

Keywords: disability, legal history, state law, military

Suggested Citation

Belt, Rabia, Ballots for Bullets? Disabled Veterans and the Right to Vote (August 7, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2477562 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2477562

Rabia Belt (Contact Author)

Stanford Law School ( email )

Stanford Law School
Palo Alto, CA California 94304
United States
7343087252 (Phone)

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