Scrap plans to allow prisoners to have the vote, pleads top Tory
A LAST-DITCH attempt to prevent hundreds of criminals from being able to vote behind bars will begin this week.
MSPs will be urged to scrap plans to allow those serving prison terms of less than 12 months a say in Scottish elections.
In recent years, offenders sentenced to under a year have included those jailed for rape, attempted rape, homicide, attempted murder, drug offences and robbery.
So far, only the Scottish Conservatives have opposed the move to give prisoners the vote. Inmates are due to be handed postal ballots within weeks.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: ‘I find it appalling that in May convicted criminals serving a sentence will be voting for the first time.
‘While the rest of us may have to change our usual voting traditions, some of the very worst criminals will be able to vote without any hassle from a jail cell.’
The Tories believe most Scots will be horrified by the prospect of rapists, would-be killers and drug dealers being given the right to vote.
They warn this is only the latest example of the SNP’s ‘soft-touch’ justice, with offenders prioritised over victims of crime.
Mr Ross said: ‘The SNP’s softtouch justice system is getting worse. This year we have seen cuts to victims’ budgets while cash for offenders increases, and criminals have been let off as 290,000 hours worth of unpaid work has been removed from their sentences.
‘We are bringing forward a debate on prisoner voting to show everyone where the SNP’s priorities lie – with criminals, not victims.
‘The Conservatives would end soft-touch justice with a “Victims Law” as our first piece of legislation in the next parliament, to put those impacted by crime first.’
According to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), there are 540 inmates who would be eligible to vote, although that figure will fluctuate between now and polling day. This is despite the Scottish Government introducing a presumption against sentences of less than a year as part of its bid to hand out more community-based punishments.
The latest figures on sentencing, published by the Government, cover 2018-2019 – before that presumption was introduced. In that year, those jailed for less than 12 months included one person convicted of homicide, one of rape or attempted rape, 119 over attempted murder, 281 for housebreaking and 464 for drug offences.
Those who are still handed jail terms of less than a year are likely to be among the worst offenders, with the judge deciding that only a custodial sentence is appropriate. But the Scottish Tories face an uphill battle to persuade other parties to back a blanket ban on prisoner voting.
Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman Liam McArthur said: ‘We supported efforts to extend the electoral franchise in local and Scottish elections to prisoners serving a sentence of less than 12 months. The previous blanket ban was not fair, progressive or in the interests of rehabilitation. Nor, indeed, was it legal.
‘To reduce reoffending we need to make people more aware of their responsibilities as citizens instead of alienating them.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘Under the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act, which was passed with a two-thirds majority in February 2020, the franchise was extended to those serving a custodial sentence of 12 months or less.
‘The extension of voting rights to some prisoners was introduced to comply with a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that a blanket ban on prisoner voting breached the European Convention of Human Rights.’
A spokesman for the SPS said: ‘We will do what is required by legislation to allow people to vote, if that is the decision of the [Scottish] parliament.’
‘We would end SNP’s soft-touch justice’