Should any prisoner who is a citizen of their respective country, and over the age of 18, be allowed to vote?
A lot of countries have different rulings on this currently. Would be interesting to hear some thoughts on it.
I would have to say no for this myself. A prisoner is someone being punished and rehabilitated for their crimes. During that time they are excluded from society to act as the punishment. Voting would be contributing to society in a way, and as such, things like that shouldn't be possible (not that it really adds to the punishment).
"I'm in prison for life may as well vote for this asshole to fuck up their country."
Of course.
I see no reason why they shouldn't. None of the reasons for imprisonment preclude that right.
Just to be clear; prisoners should have the right to vote.
I"d have to say yes, though it's mainly affected by my belief that prison should be about rehabilitation and not punishment. If we're trying to help the people, we should keep them integrated in the political happenings of the country.
I'm going to say yes because it's likely that they'll be affected by it, and they should therefore be able to have a say in it.
What about those who are in prison for life, though? They're unlikely to go back into society and so are unlikely to be directly affected by the results of any vote.
That said, they may have friends or family that will be affected. Even if they weren't going to be affected in any way, everyone deserves to have a say in how their country is run, even people who are in prison.
So yes, I think they should get the vote.
Also, taking part in democratic processes is part of interacting with society. It makes them less apathetic about their community and country, and therefore (In theory) less likely to commit crimes.
[editline]25th September 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=8=========D;32476585]"I'm in prison for life may as well vote for this asshole to fuck up their country."
Of course.[/QUOTE]
If said person was actually going to fuck up the country it's unlikely that other people would vote for him, and thus anyone who thought this would pretty much be wasting their vote.
Even if they were going to fuck up the country and they got the majority vote... That's democracy.
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;32476655]I"d have to say yes, though it's mainly affected by my belief that prison should be about rehabilitation and not punishment. If we're trying to help the people, we should keep them integrated in the political happenings of the country.[/QUOTE]
Prisons should be about punishment and rehabilitation. If it was just about rehabilitation why not just put them in a rehab?
Wouldn't most of them be voting for the person most FOR prisoners?
[QUOTE=J!NX;32476972]Wouldn't most of them be voting for the person most FOR prisoners?[/QUOTE]
So? That's democracy.
Absolutely, imagine how much corruption there could be if on election day people just get arrested for bogus charges. It may be unnecessary now but at some point in the future it might be important.
Yeah they should, they are still affected or going to be affected by what happens in society.
Stopping them from voting serves no purpose as a punishment, so I see no reason for them to be prevented from doing so.
What is the rational for not allowing them to vote. I can certainly understand the argument for prison, which is that temporarily or permanently remove those from society who are likely to violate the rights of others', yet in this there is no justification for taking away their ability to vote. If this is acceptable, taking away the ability to vote makes no sense in that it does nothing to protect the right of the public.
I can see an argument that they might vote destructively on purpose, yet I wouldn't consider this argument credible for a number of reasons, I think they should be obvious. I can see a second argument that they don't particularly belong to society therefore they shouldn't have a say in a vote. The issue with such a claim is that it asserts that only what is considered society gets a vote, when I'd suggest it should be all citizens.
This isn't an issue I've thought out entirely, yet I can't think of much against it.
[QUOTE=J!NX;32476972]Wouldn't most of them be voting for the person most FOR prisoners?[/QUOTE]
Yes people vote in their self interest, and there really shouldn't be an issue with that, especially considering a very large portion of the prison population is made up of non violent drug offenders. Really, in the case of those prisoners voting in their interest, they are far more than justified.
One industry I believe should be abolished and government monopolized is the prison industry. It is of course an issue with corporatism and not capitalism, as the private prisons are lobbying for tougher and tougher laws and usually succeeding, especially on the drug front.
Damn guys throw me a bone here, I gotta write an essay on why prisoners should [B]not[/B] be allowed to vote.
[QUOTE=stepat201;32479077]Damn guys throw me a bone here, I gotta write an essay on why prisoners should [B]not[/B] be allowed to vote.[/QUOTE]
[I]Of course prisoners should be allowed to vote! They just have to drive over to their local library, town hall, or other place where voting is performed.[/I]
[QUOTE=stepat201;32479077]Damn guys throw me a bone here, I gotta write an essay on why prisoners should [B]not[/B] be allowed to vote.[/QUOTE]
Leave the page empty
In the united states if you commit a felony you lose your right to vote. I think..
[QUOTE=oyotnas;32479242]In the united states if you commit a felony you lose your right to vote. I think..[/QUOTE]
Correct, but we're not debating whether it's a law or not.
[QUOTE=hexpunK;32476575]I would have to say no for this myself. A prisoner is someone being punished and rehabilitated for their crimes. During that time they are excluded from society to act as the punishment. Voting would be contributing to society in a way, and as such, things like that shouldn't be possible (not that it really adds to the punishment).[/QUOTE]
Voting, contributing to society? Eh, that made me cringe.
Where I'm lost is how you can consider voting to be a societal issue when it is based on citizenship. Also a bit lost as to your theory of justice.
[QUOTE=8=========D;32476585]"I'm in prison for life may as well vote for this asshole to fuck up their country."
Of course.[/QUOTE]
Surely a minority couldn't override a majority. But even then, I don't think anybody would notice the difference between a group trying purposely elect a bad candidate and purposely elect a good candidate.
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;32476655]I"d have to say yes, though it's mainly affected by my belief that prison should be about rehabilitation and not punishment. If we're trying to help the people, we should keep them integrated in the political happenings of the country.[/QUOTE]
This is a pretty weak argument because it tries to argue that allowing prisoners to vote is positive because you see it is as a form of rehabilitation. This is weak because it relies on the perspective that prison is a factuality for rehabilitation. If someone disagrees with your perspective, they will be quick to conclude that you are wrong and that prisoners do not deserve a right to vote for the opposite reason which likely has something to do with prison being a place of punishment.
[QUOTE=Darth_GW7;32476702]I'm going to say yes because it's likely that they'll be affected by it, and they should therefore be able to have a say in it.
What about those who are in prison for life, though? They're unlikely to go back into society and so are unlikely to be directly affected by the results of any vote.
That said, they may have friends or family that will be affected. Even if they weren't going to be affected in any way, everyone deserves to have a say in how their country is run, even people who are in prison.
So yes, I think they should get the vote.
Also, taking part in democratic processes is part of interacting with society. It makes them less apathetic about their community and country, and therefore (In theory) less likely to commit crimes.[/quote]
Again, I'll make my citizenship argument. Your ability to vote is not based on your being in society, but rather you being a citizen. I've made counters to most of what you say.
[editline]25th September 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=stepat201;32479077]Damn guys throw me a bone here, I gotta write an essay on why prisoners should [B]not[/B] be allowed to vote.[/QUOTE]
Focus around implicit contracts in that a person who knowingly commits a crime knows that they will give up their right to vote. Give analogies to business where votes would be required, and also any kind of board with memberships.
For example: Jane joined the board of voters and signed a contract that she had to give up her right to vote if she committed in some act. She committed some act and because of that she had to give up her right to vote. This is seen as completely legitimate as it is agreed by both parties, and the board has an interest in ensuring restricting only members who follow the rules are allowed to vote.
Though your side of the argument is going to be pretty tough, I'd suggest focusing on contract and analogy. You can even bring up that that the prison does not pay taxes, and does therefore not need to be represented.
[QUOTE=s0beit;32479202]Leave the page empty[/QUOTE]
That gave me a laugh. I'm a big fan of making arguments for sides I oppose so I'd love making this kind of paper. This has of course has back fired on me, like in high school when you're supposed to write an essay on the civil war glorifying the north and hating the south, I wrote my paper doing the opposite. No surprise, terrible grade on it, and I don't think the argument I made really mattered.
I would say probably after they're released. I mean, doing it while in prison would kind of defeat the purpose of stripping them of their rights.
[QUOTE=hexpunK;32476575]A prisoner is someone being punished and rehabilitated for their crimes.[/QUOTE] Make something stupid illegal and when people go to jail for it make sure they can't vote so they can't over turn it. No a prisoners opinion should matter just as much as anyones.
[QUOTE=Pepin;32479450]You can even bring up that that the prison does not pay taxes, and does therefore not need to be represented.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, that's a good one.
[QUOTE=stepat201;32480074]Thanks, that's a good one.[/QUOTE] The less taxes you pay the less freedom you deserve[sp] sarcasm[/sp]
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;32480091]The less taxes you pay the less freedom you deserve[sp] sarcasm[/sp][/QUOTE]
It's more the prison as a whole, which is completely paid for by the government and is very seperated from society.
Not saying I agree, but it's a good point for my essay lol.
I think it's irrelevant to take a felon's right to vote away. It has nothing to do with the crimes they committed, nor the punishment, and therefore should be done away with.
I think the reasoning most people have is.
To vote you must belong to society
Prisoners don't belong to society
Prisoners shouldn't be allowed to vote
The issue is with the first premise is citizenship is typically required to vote. Even if the first premise were true, through what mean would government have to verify that a citizen did belong to society? The likely answer would be citizenship. If the reasoning is made more correct.
To vote you must be a citizen
Prisoners aren't citizens
Prisoners shouldn't be allowed to vote
It clearly does not make any sense unless you for some reason assume that getting sent to prison is the same as being deported.
Well, a prisoner is still a member of a part of society, namely the prison part. Prison is a part of politics, therefore the people in there should be allowed to vote. And most of them will get out of there sooner or later either way.
I kinda dislike how often people dehumanize prisoners
Personally I really don't understand what people mean by society besides that they are not apart of the society outside of prison.
Society is a group of people, in my mind. A big group of people, made of smaller groups of people. Prisoners are one of those groups in my head.
Yes, they are citizens (if they are) and are entitled to vote. John Howard (former Australian PM) tried stopping prisoners from voting but it was deemed unconstitutional. Yes they may have done bad things but they should be allowed to vote.
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