Howard League: Prisoners could work for voting rights
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, comments on the decision to uphold a European ruling to allow prisoners the right to vote:
“We welcome the government’s decision to acknowledge this longstanding judgment from the European courts.
“One of the hallmarks of citizenship is the right to vote. At the same time, voting is both a right and a responsibility. If we want prisoners to return safely to the community, feeling they have a stake in society, then the right to vote is a good means of engaging individuals with the responsibilities of citizenship.
“We understand the government is still looking at excluding some prisoners from voting, in particular prisoners serving sentences of four years or more.
“One way the government could enfranchise this group would be to link their plans to make long sentenced prisoners work and pay tax to voting rights, as taxation and representation should ideally go hand in hand.”
