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| Mark Murphey works at the sheltered workshop in Rolla on Tuesday, May 30, 2022. (Photo courtesy of John Murphey) Courtesy of John Murphey |
By Tony Messenger
Before each Election Day, Mark Murphey generally calls his dad to set the schedule.
“Are you taking me to vote before work, or after work?” he asks.
This year, a county clerk where he lives is trying to make sure that conversation never happens. Last week, Phelps County Clerk Pamela Grow told the Phelps County Commission that she planned to remove all people from the voting rolls who have a guardian appointed by the court to oversee some of their affairs, even if they have a court order that preserves their right to vote.
“I would submit, ‘How is a person who is unable to manage their own financial affairs to be allowed to vote on someone else’s taxes?’ That’s just kind of putting it a little bit bluntly,” Grow told the commissioners. “I don’t mean to be hard hearted, but you have to think about the people who are working hard, paying their taxes and voting. Where are their rights? Elections can be won or lost with one vote.”
Murphey, who is 35, suffers from seizures, and some mental capacity issues that have led him to be declared disabled. He has lived on his own most of his adult life. He works at Phelps County Industrial Solutions, the sheltered workshop in Rolla. He has voted his entire adult life.
“This just came out of the blue,” his father said. “We’re amazed that she’s doing this. Mark works hard and he pays taxes. He pays more attention to politics than I do. We went through a lot of trouble and expense to make sure he had the right to vote.”
Last year, for the first time, the Murpheys sought a legal guardianship over their son. During the COVID pandemic, John had taken him to an emergency room, and the doctors wouldn’t let him accompany their son because he is an adult, and they didn’t have guardianship. The family decided to go to court to get a guardianship award to help them oversee Mark’s medical treatment.
The court order, issued in May after a hearing, specifically maintains Mark Murphey’s ability to both marry and vote. That’s not good enough for Grow. John Murphey said he went to Grow’s office to talk with her after he saw her comments. All she did was point to the Missouri Constitution, where Article VIII says: “No person who has a guardian of his or her estate or person by reason of mental incapacity, appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction and no person who is involuntarily confined in a mental institution pursuant to an adjudication of a court of competent jurisdiction shall be entitled to vote.”
Tony Rothert, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Missouri, says Grow is getting the law wrong.
“While some adults with disabilities will be appointed a guardian when they need assistance with aspects of their day-to-day affairs, Missouri cannot — and does not — automatically strip them of the right to vote,” Rothert says. “Probate judges across the state routinely determine that a person under guardianship retains the capacity to vote, and local election authorities respect those determinations. They do so because federal anti-discrimination laws and the Missouri Constitution read as a whole require it. This is not a decision left to the discretion of low-level ministerial officials.”
A 2007 federal appeals court decision affirmed the power of a Missouri judge to maintain a person’s right to vote even if they have a guardianship order.
Grow didn’t return a phone call seeking comment. Her actions, unfortunately, are not unique in Missouri. More voters have been removed from the voting rolls for “mental incapacity” in Missouri than any other state in the past three election cycles, according to federal records. Kentucky, in second place, has removed fewer than half as many voters for the same reason since 2008.
The Murpheys grew up in St. Louis, but moved to Rolla in 1985, where they’ve lived ever since. Ann, a retired nurse, used to have a seat on the City Council. “Mark certainly has the capacity to vote,” she says. In the last presidential election, Mark Murphey voted differently than his parents did. He studies the ballot and comes to his own conclusions, his parents say.
What upset Laura Taylor about Grow’s comments is how the county clerk diminished the capacity of people who have various disabilities. Taylor runs the sheltered workshop where Mark Murphey works. About 50 other disabled adults work there. Some of them have guardians; some don’t.
“The thing that stuck out to me about her comments was she really devalued the individual,” Taylor says. Now, some of her employees, including Mark Murphey, might lose their ability to vote. “The people who I work with are extremely hard working. They pay their taxes just like everybody else does. I have individuals here under guardianship who are very capable of making an informed decision.”
The Murpheys went public with their story, they say, because they want to make sure people know this is happening, so they can advocate for their loved ones if Grow’s actions are adopted in other counties.
“Why
she’s decided to do this now is beyond us,” John Murphey says. “It’s
not something I really want to get mixed up in but it’s my son. How they
can arbitrarily and unilaterally take his rights away is beyond me.”
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