Iowa works to drop "idiot" from voting language

From The Washington Times Oct. 14:

DES MOINES, Iowa -- It's drawn little attention, and no organized opposition, but voters next month will be asked to change Iowa's Constitution to remove the term "idiot" in defining who is eligible to vote.

Rep. Pam Jochum, Dubuque Democrat, has been a driving force behind the 10-year effort to clean up the outdated language included when the constitution was ratified in 1857.

"They used the language they thought would fit at the time," Mrs. Jochum said. "We do know a whole lot more today. We now understand mental illness. There is absolutely no reason our constitution should refer to these people as idiots, because they're not."

At issue is language in the constitution that prohibits voting by anyone identified as an "idiot or insane person." The proposed change would make that read "a person adjudged mentally incompetent to vote."

The campaign is a highly personal one for Mrs. Jochum, whose 31-year-old daughter, Sarah, is mentally disabled.

The drive began in 1998 when Mrs. Jochum and then-Rep. Betty Grundberg, a Des Moines Republican who also has a child who is mentally disabled, discovered the "idiot" language in the constitution.

"I certainly understand that then the knowledge of mental illness and mental retardation was nil," Mrs. Jochum said.