Prisoners serving less than a year to be given right to vote
Prisoners serving sentences of less than a year are set to be given the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and council elections under plans outlined by ministers.
A Scottish Government consultation on the controversial issue said its “favoured option” would be to extend the franchise only to prisoners serving short sentences.
Itisseekingviewsfrommembers of the public on where the cut-off point should fall, suggesting 12 months would be an “appropriate” level.
The document says that if such a policy were introduced tomorrow, around 1,000 prisoners in jails around Scotland – about one in eight inmates – who currently cannot vote would be entitled to do so.
The move is designed to make sure Scotland complies with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is incompatible with a blanket ban on prisoner voting.
Only prisoners on remand and those serving community sentences while wearing an electronic tag are allowed to vote in UK elections after ministers changed the law last year.
But powers over the voter franchise for Scottish Parliament and council elections have been devolved to Holyrood, with a bill set to be debated by MSPS next year.
In May a Scottish Parliament committee recommended all prisoners should get the vote, but Nicola Sturgeon said later those who committed the most “heinous” crimes should be excluded.
In his foreword to the consultation, constitution secretary Michael Russell said a blanket ban on prisoner voting was “no longer fit for purpose”, but that a balance must be struck.
He said: “I recognise that for many people giving any prisoners the vote will be an unwelcome change and there will be concerns about the feelings of the victims of crime.
“This is why restricting voting rights to those with short sentences strikes us as a reasonable and proportionate response.
“In an open and democratic society, even long-held views need to be reconsidered from time to time.”
The consultation also suggested voting rights could be extended to those serving six months or less, which would only enfranchise 480 prisoners if it were done immediately.
Other options include setting voting rights for prisoners based on the type of crime they committed or leaving it up to judges to make decisions about disenfranchisement when passing sentence.
The document also states inmates would not be allowed toleavejailtovote,insteadsubmitting their ballots by post or though a proxy, as is the case for prisoners on remand.
The constituency would be worked out based on their previous home address rather than the location of the prison to prevent large numbers of inmates in a single jail influencing local results.
The plans were welcomed by the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, but the Scottish Conservatives said they should be dropped immediately.