Giving Prisoners the Right to Vote

[TheGunner18]

Currently, there's a European Court ruling that says that prisoners shouldn't be barred the right to vote. However, Britain (the current government anyway), are adamant that prisoners won't be allowed to vote and are willing to ignore the court ruling.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Regulus]

The whole purpose of prisons is to take the rights away from those who don't follow the law. So, why should we care about their right to vote?

Not that I'm against it, by any means. It might be interesting to see how it affects the outcome of an election.

[Shadowfax]

I guess it depends on their crime.. but why would they care anyway if they are in prison? xD

[FlipMode]

I guess it depends on their crime.. but why would they care anyway if they are in prison? xD

You'd think. But governments also decide how much money is going to be spent on prisons and what rights the prisoners have. Think about it; if prisoners are given the right to vote, Mr. Politician need only mention things such as better conditions and prisoner rights and they don't know any better so he will get all of their votes.

[Woeler]

He who does not abide the law shall not have the right to choose them either

It doesn't matter whether you are in prison for a day for stealing an apple, or 10 years for raping someone. Criminals do not deserve the right to vote. By disrespecting the law you disrespect the right to vote for them and thus don't deserve the right to vote.

[TheGunner18]

If the choice was simply between yes or no I'd choose no of course, but for me there's quite often a grey area and I usually like to go with that.

I don't really understand why we would have to say yes to this ruling (and I hope we don't); pretty much everyone in prison has gone and made a really quite idiotic decision which ended up in them going to prison. Why would letting them vote be beneficial to a country? Personally, I don't enjoy the prospect of criminals potentially dictating who runs the country. I'd rather leave that to those who can make an educated, well-informed decision.

[TheLionPrince]

My answer is a plain, simple, and straightforward no. However, it upsets me that ex-convicts are not allowed the right to vote in most states. Here's an article on Salon that explains it all.

[Dark Huntress]

Yay! Woeler and I agree on something!!! Convicts shouldn't be allowed to vote, they forfeit that right when they broke the law.

[TheGunner18]

It's also one of the few time that I've agreed with David Cameron and the Conservatives...

I do agree with TLP that ex-convicts should be allowed to vote. Maybe if they've been put in jail for very serious crimes then they shouldn't be allowed to vote even after they get released from prison. I don't know. It's better if it's just kept simple than trying to over-complicate it, I feel.

[Woeler]

In jail = no vote
Not in jail = vote