Barred from voting: The right to vote for sentenced prisoners

Prison Reform Trust Briefing

On 10 February 2011 the House of Commons debated and voted on a motion to retain the UK’s blanket ban on sentenced prisoners voting. The blanket ban is contrary to the rule of law and undermines the principle that in a democracy voting is both a right and responsibility.

Based on the outdated notion of “civic death” enshrined in the 1870 Forfeiture Act, the ban is an unjustified relic from the past which neither protects public safety nor acts as an effective deterrent.