Prisoners are humans too and deserve the right to vote!

The UK’s blanket ban on allowing any inmates to vote was first found to be illegal by the European court of human rights (ECHR) in October 2005. The court found it to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to the right to free elections. Despite finding yet again that the UK continues to violate prisoners’ rights to participate in elections in February 2015, the ECHR declined to take any action against the UK Government.

The UK signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights - a law to make sure that all of Europe's citizens have basic human rights. However our Government is denying our prisoners one of their basic human rights... the right to vote!

Being in prison is usually a temporary situation, so missing a chance to vote which only happens once every five years, is unfair.

The right to vote for all, including prisoners, is important because sometimes governments bring in laws which go against democracy, for example making peaceful protest or opposition parties illegal. By making criminals of political opponents, and taking away their votes, a Government will become a dictatorship.

A prisoner told The Guardian, "Allowing prisoners to vote could be a worthwhile attempt at getting those who feel removed from society to participate in a more law-abiding way."

If you believe that everyone should be given human rights then please sign this petition so that the government can see we care about prisoners, even if they have broken a law.