Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill
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The Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill2012[1] is a proposed Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced to the House of Commons.
The Bill deals with Felony disenfranchisement in the United Kingdom. Following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights[2], the United Kingdom government was tasked with amending the Representation of the People Act 1983 which contains the clauses forbidding serving prisoners from being able to cast votes in any elections.
Section 3 of the 1983 act rules that
A convicted person during the time that he is detained in a penal institution in pursuance of his sentence or unlawfully at large when he would otherwise be so detained is legally incapable of voting at any parliamentary or local government election.
[3].
In its ruling "Hirst v The United Kingdom (No 2) - 74025/01 [2005] ECHR 681", the ECHR stated that "...the general...and indiscriminate disenfranchising of all serving prisoners....is incompatible with Article 3 of Protocol No 1"[4], and that "[a]ny departure from the principle of universal suffrage risks undermining the democratic validity of the legislature thus elected and the laws which it promulgates"[5].
Amending the legislation has caused controversy in the United Kingdom. Prime Minister David Cameron said the idea made him feel "physically sick"[6]. Although Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General told a Select Committee that continuing the ban would keep the UK in breach of the Court's ruling[7] David Cameron told the Commons that "no one should be in any doubt" that the law would not be changed[8]
The Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill has been drafted to give Members of Parliament three options on which to vote.
- Option 1 would retain the ban for prisoners jailed for over four years.
- Option 2 would retain the ban for prisoners jailed for over six months.
- Option 3 would retain the current ban with minor amendments. Even with these amendments, "[a]ll prisoners would be banned from voting if they were serving a custodial sentence"
A Joint Committee would be formed to consider the Bill and further options.
References
- ^ Text of proposed bill Parliament.uk
- ^ ECHR judges rule on criminal voting rights Channel 4 News
- ^ Text of the RotPA 1983 Legislation.gov
- ^ Prisoners’ right to vote ECHR Press release
- ^ Hirst v The United Kingdom ECHR via BAILII
- ^ David Cameron: "Giving prisoners the vote makes me sick'" Kent Online
- ^ Not on my watch: David Cameron defies Attorney General Dominic Grieve... The Independent
- ^ "I Won't Give Prisoners The Vote", says David Cameron The Guardian