The Venice Commissions current Interpretative Declaration to the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters on the participation of people with disabilities in elections*, states that

No person with a disability can be excluded from the right to vote or to stand for election on the basis of her/his physical and/or mental disability unless the deprivation of the right to vote and to be elected is imposed by an individual decision of a court of law because of proven mental disability.

This is statement is internally inconsistent and amounts to nonsense. NGOs pointed this out and the Venice Commission agreed to re-visit its document.

Having the legally-recognised opportunity to have your say in who should form a government and who should represent you is one of the most basic hallmarks of democracy. Being denied the right to vote means that politicians are less likely to take seriously the disenfranchised persons concerns. This explains the relative invisibility in politics and policies of people with psycho-social disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities in many countries.

We, therefore, petition the Venice Commission members to adopt a statement that is fully compliant with basic Disability Convention standards including those of the Council of Europe as well as the UN and leave no room for potential discrimination.

* http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2010/CDL-AD(2010)036-e.pdf