Votes for prisoners

[Hopkirk]

I am very Euro-sceptic, and normally bristle when I see us being forced to do things by Europe.

On this point I am totally underwhelmed though.

Can anyone explain to me why prisoners should not be allowed to vote?

[237SJ]

No, because I think they should be allowed to vote.

[R1Geezer]

being put in prison is about the removal of liberty, about taking away privilidges that normal people have, one of those is the right to vote.

[Hopkirk]

Well the politicians are getting their knickers in a twist over it, but if we back down and let them have the vote it is hardly giving them a cushy lifestyle.

[R1Geezer]

who said anything about a cushy lifestyle? If you can't see this you belong in jail yourself.

[Rasman]

The last I read was there had been a climbdown and it's still no votes for prisoners. And rightly so.

[mike11111]

Whether or not prisoners should have the vote is one issue. Whether or not the EU should tell us what the laws of our land should be is quite another. For that reason alone I would be opposed to any change.

[Hopkirk]

You wait though, we will end up paying loads in compensation in years to come.

[brionon]

What possible difference can it make ?

[New Judge]

As an aside, Hopkirk, this decision was not imposed by the EU, but was the result of a ruling by the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR). Leaving the EU would not prevent similar rulings. To avoid that we would have to repeal our own Human Rights Act of 1998 and withdraw as a signatory to the ECHR (the result of which would probably see our expulsion from the EU anyway). However, I digress.

To go to prison in the UK you either have to commit a serious offence, or a series of less serious offences, or deliberately defy a court order (for example, refuse to pay fines or complete a community order). So the question that needs to be asked is should people falling into the above categories be afforded the same rights to choose an MP or councillors as those who have not transgressed?

My own view is that they should not. In particular they should not be allowed to vote in local elections as the population of a reasonable sized prison can skew the results of a poll so that the wishes of the indigenous electorate are affected by the votes of a largely transient population who are unlikely to have any lasting local interests. A similar argument could be applied to Parliamentary elections though a possible way round this would be for a seat to be created for a “Member for Prisons.”

In practice I think this is a bit of a non-issue as it will affect very few prisoners and of them even fewer are likely to want to vote. But in principle I believe that for the time of their incarceration prisoners should forgo some of the rights afforded to law-abiding citizens.

[I.Don No]

the simple answer to your question is......people who break the law have proven they have contempt for law and should therefore not be given any input into the making of new laws..

[jake-the-peg]

Yep I do no - simple answer

As they say "every complex problem has a simple answer - and it's always wrong"

Good point about local elections NJ - had not considered that - don't know whether the ruling affects local elections or not

[jno]

wouldn't people normally vote in the local elections relating to where they live rather than the jail they're in on election day? It's not like you have to vote for Blackpool council just because you've gone there during wakes week.

[modeller]

Maybe the criteria should be changed . Only allow those of proven responsibility to vote .
On second thoughts that would debar half the population . Starting with the MPs and the bankers .

[brionon]

Hopkirk -would you give us a list of some of the things we've been forced to do by Europe,please ?

[mike11111]

Eat pork chops without the kidney attached, for one.