vote?

[bigbadmax]

Do prisoners deserve the right to vote.
Currently those on remand are the only ones allowed to do so.
MP's have just voted 234-22 against a move to allow all prisoners the vote( ECHR ruling)

If the uk agrees with the interfering Europeans, compensation could cost Govt tens of millions of pounds. Crime obviously does pay.

[tenni]

I personally would support the perspective that prisoners do not have the right to vote in governmental elections. I am less certain as to whether they should not have the right to vote in plebesites for all citizens on major societal questions. In Canada, such votes are very rare but when it comes to decisions about such things as Sudan's vote to split into two countries, I would give them the vote. I would rather not see them having a municipal election vote, a provincial election vote, or federal election vote.

[jamieknyc]

In the United States it varies from state to state. Some states let convicted criminals vote and some don't.

[darkeyes]

Do prisoners deserve the right to vote.
Currently those on remand are the only ones allowed to do so.
MP's have just voted 234-22 against a move to allow all prisoners the vote( ECHR ruling)

If the uk agrees with the interfering Europeans, compensation could cost Govt tens of millions of pounds. Crime obviously does pay.

Actually unless the government agrees with the Europeans it will cost millions.. not the other way around.. it is called being fined for breaking european law...it has been declared illegal for the UK not to allow prisoners the vote.. the government is wheedling around trying to find ways of doing the minimum to avoid being in contravention of the law.. and the Europeans arent interfering at all.. they are responding to legal issues placed before them by citizens of this country.. and there are more cases in the pipeline should they refuse.. and they will lose them too... so maybe even moire millions..

..should they have the right to vote? On balance I would say so. They still have the right to be represented by the Member of Parliament of the constituency in which they were registered at the time of their conviction, and there are many issues to do with the penal system that I would say they have a right to a voice in, as well as the conditions which they will find when they are released in both a specific and a more general sense.. if they have the right to representation by a MP and their future determined for good or ill by the government of the day, I see no contradiction in allowing them the right to vote in the democratic process of this country and allow them the democratic right to have their say who their representative in parliament is.. Their punishment is incarceration for the length of their sentence or until such time as early release is granted.. that is quite severe enough..

However having said that it is not top of my priority list and think we have far more pressing concerns before us.. but it is a natural justice to allow the vote to British inmates..

[softfruit]

If their crime relates to election fraud, then removing them from the ballot seems a sensible part of their punishment. But otherwise - denying the right to vote seems a peculiar "and also..." bit to include in sentencing, if it was legal to do that but it had to be done separately I bet it wouldn't happen often.

Especially e.g. in the last year or so of a sentence, when we are aiming for people to be getting back into 'normal' life ready for release, of course having the right to vote is a part of that normality. As indeed is not bothering to use it, or voting based on who your dad voted for, or whichever party leader you think looks least like a plonker regardless of what they actually think or propose, and so on!

[DuckiesDarling]

In the United States it varies from state to state. Some states let convicted criminals vote and some don't.

So true but only two states deny the right for life, Kentucky and Virginia. Here in Kentucky a felon can complete a process that would restore his civil rights.

Incarceration means being shut away from a society because of crimes, voting is part of a society and in my mind it is fair that prisoners are denied the right to vote as they are denied the right to mingle with the rest of society.