Can a Person Who Is Incapacitated Act as a Voter?
According to the provisions of Article 22 of the Civil Code 2015, the loss of civil act capacity is specified as follows:
- When a person is unable to be aware of or control their actions due to mental illness or another disease, upon the request of a person with related rights and interests or a relevant agency or organization, the Court shall issue a decision declaring that person to have lost civil act capacity based on the conclusion of a psychiatric forensic examination.
When there are no grounds to declare a person as having lost civil act capacity, upon the request of that person themselves or a person with related rights and interests or a relevant agency or organization, the Court shall issue a decision to annul the decision declaring the loss of civil act capacity.
- Civil transactions of a person who has lost civil act capacity must be established and carried out by their legal representative.
In Article 37 of the Law on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly and People's Council 2015, the cases in which one is not allowed to run for deputies to the National Assembly and People's Council are specified as follows:
Persons who are disqualified from candidacy by a court judgment or decision that has taken legal effect, persons serving prison sentences, persons restricted or who have lost civil act capacity.
Persons who are under criminal prosecution.
Persons serving criminal judgments or decisions of the Court.
Persons who have served criminal judgments or decisions of the Court but have not yet had their criminal records expunged.
Persons who are undergoing administrative measures by being sent to compulsory education centers, compulsory drug rehabilitation centers, or receiving education at the commune, ward, commune-level town.
From the above provisions, if a person has a mental illness, has been diagnosed by a specialized agency regarding their condition, and has been declared by the Court to have lost civil act capacity, they fall under the category of those not entitled to be listed in the voter register to exercise voting rights and do not have the right to vote.
If within 24 hours before the start of voting, that person is confirmed by a competent authority to no longer be in a state of lost civil act capacity, they shall be added to the voter register and issued a voter card to exercise their voting rights.
Thus, it is necessary to determine at the time of the election whether the person has lost civil act capacity or not. If at that time they are confirmed by a competent authority to have lost civil act capacity, they will not have the right to participate in voting. If 24 hours before the voting they are confirmed by a competent authority to no longer be in that state, they will be able to participate in voting as normal.
Respectfully!
