An adult day care home manager who reportedly filled out election ballots for developmentally disabled adults drew a request for an investigation from the California Republican Party Wednesday.

In a press release, the group made note of a KXTV news report Wednesday that said David Simerely, the director at the Thumps Up! adult care center in the foothills town of Sonora, helped 10 or more center clients fill out their Nov. 4 ballot, mostly in favor of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

The father of one of the clients said in the story that his son, who voted for Obama, has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old and would've been unable to understand who he was voting for. The man believed Simerely filled out the forms for the adults.

"We respectfully ask that the Secretary of State act, and investigate where necessary, to ensure that these individuals with mental disabilities be provided the right to vote, and to ensure that these rights be protected from coercion and manipulation," the CRP wrote in its release.

A spokeswoman for the California Secretary of State's office said someone can be barred from voting if a judge rules he or she is not mentally competent to do so. That does not appear to have happened in this case.

Any investigations by the state's Elections Fraud Unit, spokeswoman Kate Folmar said in an e-mail, would be confidential until a district attorney decided to bring charges.

Brian Brokaw, a spokesman for the California Democratic Party, said the CRP was arguing for disenfranchisement.

"Every time we think the Republicans have hit an all-time low, they manage to outdo themselves," he said in an e-mail to PolitickerCA.com. "This just shows how far Republicans will go to try and disenfranchise voters."