Should prisoners have the right to vote in the General Election?

[birdie1971]

The UK is apparently one of the few countries that do not allow prisoners to vote in General Elections (according to the article below), contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.

http://www.guardian.c...-denied-vote-election


What think you?

[DebsyDoo]

Don't know - the very fact that someone has been imprisoned is (apart from a punishment) to take away their freedom etc, so why should they have the freedom to vote ?

[jake-the-peg]

We don't remove all freedoms from prisoners - I think that's the wrong argument.

More to the point if someone has shown such bad judgement that they have ended up in prison then perhaps we shouldn't be letting that judgement into the voting system

[rojash]

There seems to be a fairly recent idea that has pervaded the UK: There are only two kinds of people - evil ones and perfect ones. In fact, human nature is such that we are all capable of degrees of good and bad, To assume that there is some absolute line that is crossed when someone is imprisoned for an offence is nonsense - especially as we all know that there is a bit of a lottery when it comes to sentencing: three people convicted of the same offence in different parts of the country (or even on different days) might well receive 3 different sentences, ranging from imprisonment, through probation and community service to a small fine.

In a true democracy, everyone has the right to vote.

[fredpuli47]

Presently excluded are : People under 18
Foreigners, unless citizens of the Irish Republic or the Commonwealth and resident here
Members of the House of Lords. Strangely, the Queen herself can vote although she doesn't.
Sentenced prisoners
People convicted, within five years of the election, of an election offence
Why do we persist in allowing Irish citizens to vote ? It's a relic of the days when the Republic was created and its citizens retained their existing right.

Loss of liberty by being imprisoned means loss of other rights (freedom of association may be one, Freedom itself is ).Not being able to vote out the people who passed the laws that got you jailed is one of them ! It's part of the punishment.

[TTG]

Anyone that supports this would change their mind if they or their family had been a victim of crime.

[jake-the-peg]

Oh do me a favour TTG not the tired old argument

"A liberal is just a conservative who hasn't been mugged yet"

I really don't think this is a big issue - I can't imagine prisoners keenly queueing up to vote.

Remember nobody's suggesting a prison MP it would be part of the electorate for a particular MP.

The idea that "it's part of the punishment" seems rather arbitary prisoners are after all allowed to smoke - apparently that is "not" part of the punishment.

Oh - sorry that'll get the predictable "it should be" response won't it? Especially for those who think that criminals should be whipped at the stocks every day.

(apart from those convicted of tax evasion - because that's a crime they can relate to)

No convicts should not get the vote for the same reason as children (and it should extend to those serving suspended sentences and on parole as well not just those currently in prison) - they're not responsible enough

[Dee Sa]

if they want to vote they should stay out of prison.

[joggerjayne]

Other people who should not be allowed to vote ...

People who phone in to "reality" TV shows

Morris Dancers

[R1Geezer]

No they're in the slammer for a reason. I do not want prisoners having any effect on election results.

[ummmm]

I don't think they should be able to vote. I also presume (maybe wrongly) that the majority of people staying 'at Her Majesty's pleasure' wouldn't have a clue or interest in politics.

[jno]

there are lots of ABers I don't want having any effect on election results, but as their lives are affected by whichever government is in power, I suppose they have a right to vote. Same is true of prisoners, either inside or when they get out.

[anotheoldgit]

One could say why are they also excluded from jury service?

[R1Geezer]

what a load of h0rseh1t jno, prison is removal from society as a punishement, that's the deal. Go down this line and it'll become illegal to descriminate agains ex cons.

[jno]

you're removed from society, not from the country.

[fredpuli47]

Quite right AOG. Why are serving prisoners excluded from jury service? Serving judges and practising barristers are not now excused or excluded, in spite of the fact that they know the law ' from inside'.

[Old_Geezer]

I'm unsure it would make much difference overall if the prison population had a vote or not. Although I think if you were to give them the vote it should be in the constituency they were registered in when arrested, rather than forcing a block vote onto the population in the area the prison is situated.

Apart from that I don't have a major concern one way or the other: although when I consider an extreme hypothetical example, it does suggest they ought to have the vote. For example, if a government was in power that approved of treating prisoners in appalling ways, ought not those affected have the right to vote for a more civilised bunch of politicians to change the law ? It seems to me they have the right to vote for better treatment, if they can make the case to their representative.

[modeller]

If they are given the vote no doubt they will claim their human rights to vote in person and be given a couple of days off to travel to their home constituency to do so.

[birdie1971]

Thanks for the answers everyone.

I don't believe that prisoners should have the right to vote. In much the same way that prisoners don't have the right to go out to pub, go skydiving, drive a car, etc. For the duration of their sentences they have been removed from society and as such should have no say in how society is run.

Once released, all rights should be reinstated.


Earlier, someone wrote “In a true democracy, everyone has the right to vote.”. I disagree. If this was true, 10 year old kids would be allowed to vote; psychiatric patients who are a danger to themselves and others would be allowed to vote, etc.