There as been calls for prisoners to be allowed the right to vote. The law that bars prisoners from voting is 134 years old. There are a few other countries that have a voting ban on sentenced prisoners amongst them are countries such as Bulgaria and Romania.

One of the main arguments seems to be that it will encourage the prisoners to the idea of returning to their communities as law abiding people.

How do you feel about this? Are you in favour of letting Prisoners have voting rights? I've attached a poll

See link below for further info.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3523231.stm

This is just my opinion, but I can't them being bothered about it? It would mean the political parties promoting themselves in prison. I don't see any reason for it change, as they can vote when they come back out again.

Is that not the whole point of prison (apart from the physical aspect of being locked up) to remove your rights and civil liberties which you had on the outside? Is that not the punishment? You have acted outside of the law and outside of society and so you are, therefore, not allowed to be an active member therein. No they should not vote until they are released.

Originally posted by Babooshka
Is that not the whole point of prison (apart from the physical aspect of being locked up) to remove your rights and civil liberties which you had on the outside? Is that not the punishment? You have acted outside of the law and outside of society and so you are, therefore, not allowed to be an active member therein. No they should not vote until they are released.

I am no angel but I agree with this!

I don`t think some of them should be allowed to live so forget attempting a political voice!

I didn't realise prisoners weren't allowed to vote and I'm surprised they're not. I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to vote it's not as if their opinion is any less valid just because they've made mistakes in the past.

Once they enter prison, they lose their rights of freedom so no they shouldnt be allowed to vote

Prison is not just about being behind bars Sidla. It is about losing your rights to partaking in society due to your breach of society's rules. That is the real punishment. When you break the law you lose your right to exercise your opinion. That is the way it should be. When they are in prison, their crime is not in the past. Their crime is their present and for that they shall pay. They can rejoin society when they have paid the punishment for the crime committed. In prison they are outside society. Why should they be allowed to vote for what happens in it. That is the price you pay for acting outside the law.

Originally posted by Babooshka
Prison is not just about being behind bars Sidla. It is about losing your rights to partaking in society due to your breach of society's rules. That is the real punishment. When you break the law you lose your right to exercise your opinion. That is the way it should be. When they are in prison, their crime is not in the past. Their crime is their present and for that they shall pay. They can rejoin society when they have paid the punishment for the crime committed. In prison they are outside society. Why should they be allowed to vote for what happens in it. That is the price you pay for acting outside the law.

I think you make a very valid point however not allowing short term prisoners the right to vote in a general election punishes them for at least 4 years which would be a little harsh, especially if their "offence" was in defence of either themselves or their property for example assault on a burglar! So all in all I don't think it is quite as simple as that. Whilst I am a little inclined to agree with you I don't think that this would be fair in all cases, so I suppose I will sit on the fence on this one:D

I may sound harsh but I feel that if you are in prison for ANY reason then you lose your rights, regardless of length of sentence, regardless of the nature of your crime. You can not have one rule for one prisoner and another rule for another. It has to be uniform. If you are in prison, you are in prison. Your rights are reinstated when you are released. That is just the way it is and the way it should be. If you have defended your land against a burglar, in the eyes of OUR law you have committed a crime....same rules apply. Just because some people may think that killing someone who is on your land is acceptable does not make any difference. British law says that it is not. We live by our laws. Maybe laws should be changed? Now that is a whole other topic!!!! (hee hee)

How many prisoners do you think ever bothered to get of their arses and vote when they were not in prison? Almost none I would guess.

Why go to the trouble and expense of setting up poll booths in every prison? What about the practicalities? Do they vote for candidates in the ward/constituency where the prison is or where they normally live? If it's where the prison is, and they don't live there, then why should they have a say in the politics of that area? If their vote is for the area in which they normally live, how do you collect the votes and get them to the right constituency for the count? What a palaver for a handful of votes!

Leave it is it is. I'm sure prisoners would prefer the money to be better spent on something that would benefit the community... like Sky Sports in every cell!

I agree. Although I don't think most prisoners would care either way - certainly most of my friends from uni never voted, and they are supposed to be "the future of the country"...

No, they have lost their rights to have civil rights in society.

Being that voting applies to what happens in the future and that the majority of prisoners will be released in the future I think they should retain the right to vote.

Originally posted by Zamo
How many prisoners do you think ever bothered to get of their arses and vote when they were not in prison? Almost none I would guess.

Just because someone has been sent to prison doesn't automatically mean they have no interest in politics or the state of the country does it. MP's even got locked up sometimes...

Originally posted by Babooshka
Prison is not just about being behind bars Sidla. It is about losing your rights to partaking in society due to your breach of society's rules. That is the real punishment. When you break the law you lose your right to exercise your opinion. That is the way it should be. When they are in prison, their crime is not in the past. Their crime is their present and for that they shall pay. They can rejoin society when they have paid the punishment for the crime committed. In prison they are outside society. Why should they be allowed to vote for what happens in it. That is the price you pay for acting outside the law.

yep i totally agree with u!

once they have committed a crime and they have been put in prison then they do not have the right to have there say in wot happens in today society!

Sammy delete some PM's coz ur inbox is full and I can't message you!

Gaz

gaz i have just for you! lol

Originally posted by Sammy
yep i totally agree with u!

once they have committed a crime and they have been put in prison then they do not have the right to have there say in wot happens in today society!

But the thing is with elections it's not today is it, it's the future......

I believe quite strongly that prisoners should not be allowed to vote. It is part of their sentence to have that right removed.

Elections may be for the future (not THAT far ahead though!) BUT if you do not take away this right then what the hell have they lost? Nothing! Prison is punishment. If they don't lose rights when they go in, then when DO they lose their rights? Also, not all sentences are the same length. Why should some prisoners be allowed to vote and not others? (eg a 2 yr sentence compared to a 20 year sentence). The period you spend in prison is your time of punishment. Whatever happens on the outside during that time is not for a prisoner to decide.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4408121.stm

This has been brought up again in the news.

I don't see why prisoners should have the right to vote. This is just an example of the 'rights culture' gone mad.

If somebody has committed a crime sufficiently serious for them to be sent to prison, then they have forfeited the right to choose the people who make the laws which they have broken.

I also don't think that they should not get the vote back even if released on parole. Only when they have completed their full sentence, whether incarcerated or released on parole, should their civil rights be reinstated.

I think we should be far more focused on the rights of victims rather than criminals.

Originally posted by Lickszz
There as been calls for prisoners to be allowed the right to vote. The law that bars prisoners from voting is 134 years old. There are a few other countries that have a voting ban on sentenced prisoners amongst them are countries such as Bulgaria and Romania.

One of the main arguments seems to be that it will encourage the prisoners to the idea of returning to their communities as law abiding people.

How do you feel about this? Are you in favour of letting Prisoners have voting rights? I've attached a poll

See link below for further info.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3523231.stm

Some good points here, but which prisoners should be allowed to vote. For example, vote for us Mr Sutcliffe I’d love to see Blair and Howard in a prison campaigning….and of course they would make promises they wouldn’t keep …that’s not good for people who would sit here brooding year after year.

Im with the majority of most poster here.

If a person commits a crime against society, they are locked up
a) for the safety and good of said society
b) to loose their privileges in the socety until they have paid their dues and allowed to return.

They should not be allowed to vote.


To see Tony, Micheal and charlie boy going after the prison vote would appall me. And you know they would.....


Loopy.

it's a free country why should they not be allowed to vote
remember most of them fought in the war and stoped us speaking german they fought for the uk so in my words they're heros.

p.s,just intrested to hear about the selfish people who said that pensioners are not allowed to vote remember we all get old someday and if you were a pensioner would you not like to be able to vote!!!

Who said anything about pensionsers!!!!!!!!



read the title !!!


or was that humerous sarcasm you were attempting:(

I agree with the majority. You lose your civil liberties when in jail and that includes the right to vote.

It also annoys me that a prisoner on day release was allowed to buy a lottery ticket that made him a millionaire!!!

Not alot can be done about those situations though I suppose. You can't stop someone buying things its just a shame it had to be a winning lottery ticket! :(

Some of our prisoners shouldnt even be allowed to BREATH, never mind vote.

The Lib Dems seem to think so but do you?

I feel that the right to choose who governs us should be forfeited in the event of an indiviual becoming a criminal.

And also how many prisoners would actually vote if they were on the outside anyway?

Another half baked idea from 'The Ginger One'. :loopy:

Simple answer, NO

The present system is fine - people are allowed to vote again after they have repayed their debt, so to speak.

As for the prisonner getting that lottery money, I think that is fine. We do not play the lottery because we think the winnings are going to a good person. We play because we think either that we might win or that the lottery does good things with the money that isn't winnings. I think too much fuss was made about that.

Originally posted by kathythebean

As for the prisonner getting that lottery money, I think that is fine. We do not play the lottery because we think the winnings are going to a good person. We play because we think either that we might win or that the lottery does good things with the money that isn't winnings. I think too much fuss was made about that.


I think it would be fine but for one small problem.... they don't have lottery terminals in prisons so why was a convicted rapist allowed out at weekends to buy lottery tickets? That's the issue in that example - he shouldn't have been able to buy one to begin with, hence shouldn't have been able to win.

Well with the election looming this topic is back on the agenda.

My view is you lose your citizens rights when you are in prison you have been removed from society.

Before the criminal commited the crime that got them locked up would it have made any difference to them if they knew beforehand they would or would not be unable to vote i dont think so
mel