The UK looks set to overturn a 140-year ban on prison inmates voting in local and national elections. Apparently some (likely those convicted of the most serious offences) will still be unable to vote, but prisoners in for lesser crimes will be enfranchised. To avoid the whole prison population holding the crucial vote in an given constituency, it looks likely that prisoners will vote based on their last registered address before their sentence started, as overseas voters do. The ban currently affects around 70,000 prisoners in the UK.
So, what do you think? I’m really undecided as to whether this is a good idea or not. I understand some US states ban convicts from voting even after they have served their sentence - I am certainly against that. But suspending your voting rights while in the slammer is different.
(Waiting for the jokes about Australian democracy…)
If morons, nazis, animal abusers and armament/tobacco manufacturers are allowed to vote, why shouldn’t prisoners be? Such is the precarious nature of democracy.
I think it depends on the purpose of prison. As well as punishment and rehabilitation is the purpose to remove them totally from society? If so, why give them access to the internet and phonecalls? I don’t see the point of the ban personally.
Seems to me that prisoners are particularly subject to government power, and especially sensitive to policy changes. As conviction does not result in the revoking of citizenship, that’s two good reasons for prisoners to be enfranchised.
Some will vote their self-interest and entirely disregard the public good, but then self-regard and short-sightedness are hardly unique to convicts. Others will be strongly motived to support programs that bolster their chances of successfully reintegrating: drug treatment centres, day parole, yadda yadda yadda. Aside from prisoners, their families, police and parole officers, how many people are going to really be well-informed on rehabilitation policies?
So, what do you think? I’m really undecided as to whether this is a good idea or not. I understand some US states ban convicts from voting even after they have served their sentence - I am certainly against that. But suspending your voting rights while in the slammer is different.
(Waiting for the jokes about Australian democracy…)[/quote]
Speaking as an American, one of the caveats of a felony conviction is the loss of voting rights, and everybody knows this. Prison is filled with guys who are “innocent” and all that…but quite frankly, more than half of US citizens can’t be bothered to vote in the first place. My knee-jerk reaction is “Fuck them.”
However, in terms of rights, participation in society is considered a privilege. Mess it up, and oh well, better luck next life, bub. Is one instance of grand larceny tantamount to disenfranchisement? I think so. Getting busted with a misdemeanor amount of weed? Not really.
It’s hard to really argue this position without sweeping generalizations, so I guess, if I had to vote on whether or not felons should have (or get back) their voting rights, I’d vote No.
Some will vote their self-interest and entirely disregard the public good, but then self-regard and short-sightedness are hardly unique to convicts. [/quote]Exactly. Besides, according to Taffy, 70,000 people are banned due to being in prison. I wonder how many more people committed crimes worthy of imprisonment but just never got caught for it. I bet it’s way more than 70,000.
Its the UK…running madly down the road to cultural annihilation anyway. Lets fill their benefit basket at the gate as hey leave. And while we’re at it, why not give them old age pensions, free university degrees, human resource training, conjugal visits with state-paid whores while they’re in the lock-up, they already get free food and a place to sleep.
Then when they are released, let’s subsidize every facet of their life and employee a bunch of upper-middle class government people to manage the poverty programs. Thats what the role of “Government” is right?
Socialism is by the people and for the people innit? So what if one of the miscreants breaks a few laws? Probably the result of a bad home-life. Not his/her fault at all.
I mean what, its all been shown that once these poor societal members are shown the right and true way they gladly join the ranks of “productive members” of society.
Right?
I don’t understand the “jokes about Australian democracy” bit, but here are the regulations for Australian prisoners taken from the Australian Electoral Commission website.
[quote]Can prisoners enrol and vote in federal elections?
If you are serving a sentence of less than three years, serving a sentence of periodic detention, on early release, or on parole you are entitled to enrol and vote if you are an Australian citizen and aged 18 years or older.
If you are serving a sentence of three years or longer you are not entitled to enrol and vote.
Once released from prison, you are entitled to enrol and vote.
Different rules may apply to voting in state and territory and local elections. Contact the state or territory electoral authority for more information.[/quote]
This seems quite reasonable to me. Prisoners are already excluded from society in many ways. However, I can’t see any good reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
This is probably a bigger issue in the US where there is such a large prison population. Giving prisoners the right to vote might change the status quo. That might be a very good thing.
[quote=“wix”]I don’t understand the “jokes about Australian democracy” bit, but here are the regulations for Australian prisoners taken from the Australian Electoral Commission website.
[quote]Can prisoners enrol and vote in federal elections?
If you are serving a sentence of less than three years, serving a sentence of periodic detention, on early release, or on parole you are entitled to enrol and vote if you are an Australian citizen and aged 18 years or older.
If you are serving a sentence of three years or longer you are not entitled to enrol and vote.
Once released from prison, you are entitled to enrol and vote.
Different rules may apply to voting in state and territory and local elections. Contact the state or territory electoral authority for more information.[/quote]
This seems quite reasonable to me. Prisoners are already excluded from society in many ways. However, I can’t see any good reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
This is probably a bigger issue in the US where there is such a large prison population. Giving prisoners the right to vote might change the status quo. That might be a very good thing.[/quote]
Yeah, you’ll be warbling a different tune altogether when Chopper Read gets elected PM…
As for the OP, hold on a minute…prisoners can’t vote…but Welshers CAN???
OK, that’s fucked up.
They can have my vote. I’m of the opinion that democracies have a shelf life of about two-hundred years and after that insiders learn to game them so thoroughly that voting becomes a fool’s errand.
Except in Taiwan where the first ever democratically elected government games the system so extensively that the common man may never trust another politician as long as he lives
Except in Taiwan where the first ever democratically elected government games the system so extensively that the common man may never trust another politician as long as he lives [/quote]
I don’t see why prisoners shouldn’t vote.
I imagine quite a few of them have suffered because of being unaware of the law, or as someone said earlier because of policy change.
Offences can also be more bureaucratic than malicious in nature and I don’t see why these prisoners are not allowed to have their voices heard. We might learn something form it.
I’m not afraid that murderers and rapists all of a sudden get to vote themselves out of prison after all. They certainly aren’t going to be a majority vote.
Is there actually any downside to prisoners voting, or is such a ban simply reserved as punishment only?
I’m more afraid of there being a ban on prisoner voting as under such a system a bad government can simply lock anyone they like up for any made up reason and then never suffer the consequences. You know, like the law changes since 911 and 77.
Well, TTBOMU, the premise is that government should be elected by citizens in good standing, and not by criminals. You may or may or may not agree with the premise, but there it is.
