[Voting by cognitively impaired persons: legal and ethical issues].

In democratic countries, cognitively impaired persons are a substantial and growing group of citizens. Most of them are citizens with dementia. In dementia, cognitive impairment induces a loss of some capacities, resulting in vulnerability and increased need for assistance.

The vote of acute medical inpatients: a prospective study.

Objective: There may be ethical issues associated with allowing certain inpatients to vote as some may be cognitively impaired. During the 2007 elections in France, we conducted a prospective observational study on voting among hospitalized patients.

Method: Patients hospitalized in an Internal Medicine and Geriatric Department on election day were included.