Short-term prisoners and refugees handed right to vote
PRISONERS serving short sentences and foreign nationals including refugees will be given the franchise in future Scottish elections following a historic Holyrood vote.
MSPS voted by 92 to 27 to pass the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Bill.
This will hand prisoners sentenced to a term of 12 months or less the right to vote in local government and Holyrood elections.
Foreign nationals who are legally resident in Scotland – including those granted refugee status – will also be given the franchise.
It was the first time a piece of legislation has been passed in Holyrood after requiring a supermajority of two-thirds of MSPS to back it, as it related to the electoral system.
But MSPS voted down proposals from the Scottish Greens that would have seen asylum seekers permitted to take part in ballots.
Constitution Secretary Mike Russell said while he had the “greatest sympathy” for the move, there were “practical concerns”.
He said voting needed to be extended to some prisoners in order for Scotland to comply with the European Court of Human Rights.
And while he accepted it was an “emotive issue” he said the changes were “driven by a compelling need to meet human rights obligations”.
In contrast he said extending the vote to foreign nationals was driven by the “reality and the aspiration of modern Scottish society”.
Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said: “There can be little hiding from the fact that this Bill will bring prisoners into our elections, and it will be a consequence of a decision made here in Holyrood, not one of compliance with a court in Strasbourg.”
He added: “Many disagree that prisoners, people who have stepped beyond the rules set by our society, should have the right to vote for those who set those rules while they are still being punished and still have yet to be rehabilitated and re-integrated into our community.”
And while he said only around 900 prisoners would be eligible to vote, he insisted the SNP had “jettisoned its own principles”.
Conservatives voted against the Bill, but SNP MSPS, together with Labour, the Greens and the Scottish Liberal Democrats supported it.