{"id":1186,"date":"2020-04-08T08:34:48","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T07:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2020-04-08T08:37:41","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T07:37:41","slug":"voting-from-behind-bars-more-changes-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2020\/04\/08\/voting-from-behind-bars-more-changes-on-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting from behind bars \u2013 more changes on the way?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many UK politicians, the question of votes for prisoners\nis politically toxic.  David Cameron said\nthe prospect made him feel physically ill and when the issue has come up in\nParliament it\u2019s been a rare person who has ventured an opinion in favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the tide could be moving in favour of the franchise for\nthose behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK legislation has long excluded prisoners from voting.  This blanket ban was challenged back in 2005\nin Hirst vs United Kingdom with the European\nCourt of Human Rights ruling<\/a> that a whole group could not be excluded in\nthat way.  The government however was\nreluctant to make any changes arguing that part of the punishment of being in\nprison was losing those sort of rights.  The\nstalemate on the issue continued until 2017 when a handful  of prisoners, those out on temporary licence, gained the franchise.<\/a>  It\u2019s worth saying here that those on remand \u2013\n in a prison but not actually convicted\nof anything \u2013 have always retained the right to vote, whether aware of it or\nnot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of those on temporary licence is small enough for\nfew people to notice.  But changes in\nScotland and potentially in Wales this year could open the door to more\npressure to bring prisoners into the electorate.  In Scotland a Bill to, among other things,  extend voting\nrights<\/a> to certain prisoners \u2013 those with a sentence up to 12 months –   gained\nroyal assent in early April and is now a law. \nThat means the right to vote in local elections and the poll for the\nScottish Parliament.  There won\u2019t be\npolling stations in prisons.  Instead\ninmates will be registered at their old address and will make their choice by\npost or proxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Wales another Bill on voting will be discussed in the\nSenedd  plenary session today (8  April). \nThe Welsh Government is intending to add amendments<\/a>\nso that prisoners with sentences of up to four years could vote in Welsh local\nelections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opinions on voting for prisoners vary dramatically.  In some countries voting rights for prisoners\nare widespread.  This includes Ireland,\nwhich saw inmates vote for the first time in 2007, and Canada.  Some countries, such as Ukraine, set up\npolling stations inside prisons, sending the votes back to the prisoners\u2019 home\nareas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet in other parts of the world it is not just prisoners who\ncan\u2019t vote also but those who have served their sentence.  In the US some States ban those with felony\nconvictions from ever voting again. (Felonies are the serious crimes)  This is being challenged with a\npotentially significant court case<\/a> later this month.  In Florida, \nvoters supported a plan to allow give the vote back to a large number of\nex -felons. (In the US there are often referendum type votes on policy issues\nat election time).  The State legislature\nthought differently however and came up with a plan to block the scheme.  Now a Florida Court is to rule on whether the\nlegislature or the voters will get their way. The whole thing is all very\ntechnical,  but the upshot is that the\nfranchise could be extended in a meaningful way.  And of course civil rights campaigners from\nelsewhere in the US are keen to build on any success in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time democracies \nhave generally widened the franchise. \nWe\u2019ve seen changes to voting ages and we\u2019ve seen gender, class and\nfinancial restrictions removed.  It will\nbe interesting to see what further changes are made or resisted when it comes\nto those in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edge Hill University\u2019s politics courses include a specialist\nmodule on Elections and Voting Systems as well as material about analysing\ndemocracies and constitutional change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many UK politicians, the question of votes for prisoners is politically toxic.  David Cameron said the prospect made him feel physically ill and when the issue has come up in Parliament it\u2019s been a rare person who has ventured an opinion in favour. But the tide could be moving in favour of the franchise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1688],"tags":[57700,32340,57697,57594,19539],"class_list":["post-1186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-electoral-reform","tag-politics","tag-prisoners","tag-prisons","tag-voting"],"yoast_head":"\nVoting from behind bars \u2013 more changes on the way? - Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are changes to the voting rights of prisoners on the way? 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