Father decries disabled son's clandestine voter registration
A 58-year-old father is furious over the clandestine registration of his Down Syndrome son as a voter in the Kota Raja parliamentary seat.
A 58-year-old father is furious over the clandestine registration of his Down Syndrome son as a voter in the Kota Raja parliamentary seat.
"My son, who is (mentally) disabled, was registered as a voter without my knowledge. This is definite proof of phantom voters," said retiree Ruslan Abdul Razak who insists that he never registered his son as a voter.
His 25-year-old son, whose mental ability is equivalent to that of a four-year-old, lacks the ability to do so on his own, or even to vote, Ruslan said.
"This may just be the tip of the iceberg. I fear that all the (mental) patients in Tanjung Rambutan Hospital have also been registered as voters," he joked.
Ruslan related that he found out about the matter two days ago when his son received a voting slip with his particulars as a voter in the mail.
“I thought it was official correspondence from the Welfare Department, so I went ahead to open it. As I tore open the envelope, out came a piece of paper with the picture of Malaysia’s handsomest and nicest man,” he said sarcastically.
Ruslan said that the voter slip has a BN logo on the front and a big picture of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the reverse.
The details listed his son as a voter in the Kota Raja parliamentary district.
Puzzled as to how his son’s name was registered, as a sign of protest, Ruslan said that he will go with his son on polling day and as his legal guardian will ask to vote on his behalf, and if not allowed he plans to sue the Election Commission (EC).
He said he felt slighted that the EC can disrespect mentally disabled people like his son and registered them as voters.
Ruslan fears that other invalid or mentally disabled people has also been registered and others will come to vote on their behalf.
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