Last week there was an interesting case in Japan, involving
three plaintiffs with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and
who cannot therefore use an mail-in voting system that requires
that they physically sign their ballot.  The Tokyo District
Court ruled that the mail-in voting system is unconstitutional
because of the writing requirement, but rejected a damages suit
brought by the plaintiffs who demanded monetary compensation
of 900,000 yen each for damages.

The presiding judge argued "The lack of a voting system that
disabled people can use to exercise their voting rights constitutes
an unconstitutional situation."  Apparently this is the first
case of its kind in Japan.

The case was reported in the November 29, 2002 Yomiuri Shimbun,
"Voting method lack ruled illegal", page 2.

I recall at least one relatively recent case in California
regarding somewhat similar claims, but do not have the case at
hand nor do I recall the outcome of this case.

*********************************************************************
R. Michael Alvarez				(O) 626-395-4422
Professor of Political Science			(F) 626-405-9841 
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125                              
rma@hss.caltech.edu
*********************************************************************