tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post7622948494588808940..comments2023-10-27T07:50:27.411+01:00Comments on Next Left: Should prisoners vote?Tom Hampsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05917325958130851128noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-22814236701936945572009-05-02T10:05:00.000+01:002009-05-02T10:05:00.000+01:00The way it's going prisoners might be the only one...The way it's going prisoners might be the only one who will want to vote. I sure do not.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186557603493331701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-40378226160057246602009-04-10T15:53:00.000+01:002009-04-10T15:53:00.000+01:00From talking to my wife (a social researcher of of...From talking to my wife (a social researcher of offenders) there are some very interesting repercussions.<BR/><BR/>In fact, unlike Sunder's and my own initial instinct, there might not be low turn-out but quite the reverse. Prison is an institution a bit like a school - everyone goes to lunch in lines or goes out to the yard etc. and just like a school election everyone will be mobilised to vote. <BR/><BR/>Furthermore, prisoners have time to think, discuss and watch news programmes. If you grant this right to prisoners they will guard it preciously, precisely because they are denied most freedoms. Personal opinions become all the more precious in prison because they are a way of asserting your identity amidst a system which has taken it way. For instance, far more prisonewrs are deeply religious than in the ordinary population. For these reasons there might be very substantial turn-out.<BR/><BR/>However, in practice the organisation for prisoners to vote would be a nightmare. Which address would they be registered at and in which constituency should their vote be counted for? Many prisoners are homeless and/or not on the electoral register and because of over-crowding they are transfered from prison to prison on a regular basis often far from their the area where their home is.<BR/><BR/>My own opininon regarding allowing prisoners with sentences of less than four years the right to vote is that it is actually a fudge. I can see the government point of view though (and that of Stuart above) in that it will exclude prisoners with long sentences - the murderers etc. However, democracy should not be about half measures - surely all prisoners should have the vote or the argument can also be made that they have forfeited that human right. I think in a perfect democracy everyone would have the vote, but the practicalities and political sensitivities to be overcome are substantial. <BR/><BR/>The other issue is who would the prisoners vote for? but that is a subject for another blog.Calixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05754832236324324540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985429043801017839.post-43622390083700200072009-04-09T15:27:00.000+01:002009-04-09T15:27:00.000+01:00Sunder: I'm inclined to think that a prisoner shou...Sunder: I'm inclined to think that a prisoner should lose the right to vote only when their crime rises above a certain threshold of seriousness. Restoring the right to those prisoncers with short sentences strikes me as a desirable move that removes a disproportionate penalty from the criminal justice system.Stuart Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05090728365798166746noreply@blogger.com