Mentally disabled man was registered to vote at Hazel Park school, says mother

HAZEL PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - A woman whose adult son is mentally disabled is concerned her son after she said he and his classmates with intellectual disabilities are being registered to vote without them understanding what’s going on.

Vanessa Rivera says her 26-year-old son – with intellectual disabilities - was registered to vote while he was at school in Hazel Park

"They had a voter registration day at the school, which is a school for special needs adults," said Rivera.

Rivera’s big concern was why wasn’t she notified as a legal guardian.  She also worries about the capacity of the some of the students to understand what was even going on.

"My son is nonverbal and can’t express any of those things that you would need to do voter registration," Rivera said. "I am wondering how he would sign that.  I feel like students that are not at a cognitive level to even know about the election at this point, are being registered or being pre-registered, that they are being taken advantage of."

Nicole Mathew, a professor of political science at Oakland University, weighed in.

"There’s something in the constitution that says the legislature could limit people who are mentally incapacitated from voting," Mathew said. "But the legislature has not passed such a law, so there’s no current limit."

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Legal experts who spoke with FOX 2 off camera, echo this position.

"The law does say anyone assisting a voter needs to have the voter communicate to them who they want to vote for, you can’t just fill in bubbles for someone," Mathew said. "So there has to be some communication with someone, but it doesn’t have to be verbal."