Prisoners can vote?

[Randy]

from: http://idebate.org/debatabase/debates/law/house-would-allow-prisoners-vote

Many countries restrict the right of those sentenced to imprisonment to vote in elections. For example, convicted prisoners are automatically banned from voting in Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Luxemburg, Romania, Russia and the United Kingdom. In Australia, prisoners are only entitled to vote if they are serving a sentence of less than three years. Eighteen European states, including Spain, the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland, place no formal prohibition on prisoners voting. In practice, however, it is often difficult for prisoners in some of these countries to vote: in the Republic of Ireland, prisoners have the right to be registered to vote in their home constituency, but have no right to either a postal vote or to be released to cast a vote at a ballot box.

The issue is particularly controversial in the United Kingdom and the USA. In April 2001, the British High Court rejected a case brought by John Hirst (a man serving a life sentence for manslaughter), who argued that the ban on prisoners voting was incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. In March 2004, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the British government was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights; the European Court's Grand Chamber rejected the British government's appeal in October 2005. Proponents argue this is proof that the right to vote is an unalienable right that cannot be taken from a prisoner, regardless of the severity of his crime. Opponents maintain that disenfranchisement is a suitable punishment for those who have proven unable to adhere to society's laws and will act as a deterrent against re-offending. As a result, in the United States, one in forty Americans of voting age are ineligible to vote because they are, or have been, in prison. The arguments below relate directly to whether those currently serving prison sentences should be allowed to vote.

Opinions on letting prisoners vote?

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Ex cons should not vote so certainly not prisoners. We got enough stupid non criminals voting why add to the list.

 

[Webster]

Opinions on letting prisoners vote?[/font][/size]

Once they're out of prison, by all means. While they're still there...not so much.

 

[DrLeftover]

Some states, as the below example shows, allow certain felons, upon release and the meeting of various other criteria, to petition to have their right to vote restored.


CERTIFICATE OF RESTORATION
OF VOTING RIGHTS
for Persons Convicted of a Felony on or After May 18, 1981
This includes all federal convictions, state convictions
within Tennessee or state convictions from another state.
http://state.tn.us/sos/election/forms/ss-3041.pdf

Again, I will say, if we DO NOT ALLOW felons to vote, then why in the hell are they serving in Congress?

 

[+paradox]

some say that only home and land owners should be allowed to vote at all...

so i guess if you don't own a home or land then you shouldn't be voting...

yeah, sucks huh? to feel like crap?

i think if you do your time then you should be able to get your voting rights back...

also, it's legal to own property/land, homes, cars, businesses while you're locked up so why can't you vote on issues that affect you, some might say/believe...

 

[Webster]

some say that only home and land owners should be allowed to vote at all...

so i guess if you don't own a home or land then you shouldn't be voting...

Don't tempt them, Justice; there's some in this country that might just roll voting back to those days...

 

[Sinon]

Once you've served your time, sure. While you're a resident of the penal system, your rights should be restricted to the most minimal available. Bread, water, and enough space to walk around. Beyond that, you don't deserve anything.

 

[+paradox]

Once you've served your time, sure. While you're a resident of the penal system, your rights should be restricted to the most minimal available. Bread, water, and enough space to walk around. Beyond that, you don't deserve anything.

but, what about the rich and the celebs?

they can't be treated like scum like "us normal people"...

 

[Sinon]

Once you've served your time, sure. While you're a resident of the penal system, your rights should be restricted to the most minimal available. Bread, water, and enough space to walk around. Beyond that, you don't deserve anything.

but, what about the rich and the celebs?

they can't be treated like scum like "us normal people"...

You're right.

Stale bread, toilet water, and tie them to a pole in the rain.

 

[+paradox]

Once you've served your time, sure. While you're a resident of the penal system, your rights should be restricted to the most minimal available. Bread, water, and enough space to walk around. Beyond that, you don't deserve anything.

but, what about the rich and the celebs?

they can't be treated like scum like "us normal people"...

You're right.

Stale bread, toilet water, and tie them to a pole in the rain.

that'a girl...

 

[+paradox]

some say that only home and land owners should be allowed to vote at all...

so i guess if you don't own a home or land then you shouldn't be voting...

Don't tempt them, Justice; there's some in this country that might just roll voting back to those days...

yeah i bet, yet it's funny how many conservatives that are out there that don't own anything from a home to real estate...

a lot of conservatives don't like progressiveness yet enjoys the benefits of change...

 

[yugasini]

Hi Friends,

Different laws in different countries, the prisoners who jailed for monetary crime shold not allow to vote other people can vote.