Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

Question 1

Why are prisoners not entitled to vote in the UK?

Answer 1

because they are regarded as having renounced (refused to abide by) the rights of citizenship for the duration of the time that they are incarcerated (imprisoned)

Question 2

What is the significance of John Hirst in regards to the prison vote?

Answer 2

• the question of whether prisoners are being denied a fundamental human right gained some publicity in two cases brought by John Hirst against the British government
• Hirst’s claim, that although he was in prison he should be allowed to vote, was dismissed by the courts in 2001

Question 3

Explain the argument for allowing prisoners to vote

Answer 3

• three years after John Hirst’s claim was rejected, the European Court of Human Rights declared that the blanket (mass) ban on prisoner voting was contrary to Article 3 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights, which ‘provides for the right to elections performed by secret ballot, that are also free and that occur at regular intervals’
• the British government was, therefore, in defiance of the European Convention on Human Rights

Question 4

What effect have pressure groups made on the prison vote?

Answer 4

• pressure groups such as Liberty