Law states people with mental illness cannot vote

SHAH ALAM - Malaysians diagnosed with mental illness will not be able to cast their vote during the upcoming state elections on Aug 12.

Election analyst Dr G. Manimaran said this was stipulated under Article 119(3)(a) of the Federal Constitution.

According to the provision, a person is prohibited from participating in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly if on the qualifying date, the person is detained as a person of unsound mind or is serving a sentence of imprisonment.

Manimaran said according to the foregoing law, if they were imprisoned as a mental patient, they were unable to vote and they could also not do so if they were actually mentally disabled.

He added that proof of the person having suffered from a mental illness was required.

“According to the Mental Health Act 2001, ‘mental disorder’ means any mental illnesses, arrested or incomplete development of the mind, psychiatric disorder or any other disorder or disability of the mind however acquired and 'mentally disordered' shall be construed accordingly,” he told Sinar Daily.

However, he said those with medical conditions that people may have thought were mental illnesses, such as dementia were allowed to vote as their condition did not fall under mental illness.

He added that those who were held in hospitals or other mental health facilities and have been formally diagnosed as mentally ill by doctors were not eligible to vote.

It was reported that Barisan Nasional (BN) state election candidate for the Bertam seat, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican revealed that former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would return to Bertam to cast his vote on polling day.

Reezal also said that Abdullah or better known as Pak Lah was suffering from dementia.

This has raised doubt on whether a person with dementia are qualified and capable of voting for the upcoming state elections.

The Bertam state seat, which falls under the Kepala Batas Parliament, was previously held by Abdullah.

According to the Election Commission’s statistics, a total of 9,773,571 registered electors were eligible to vote in the state elections involving six states namely Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, and Terengganu on Aug 12.