Parliamentary.ai

Overview

This bill, the Convicted Prisoners Voting Bill, aims to explicitly prohibit prisoners serving custodial sentences from voting in parliamentary and local government elections across the United Kingdom. The bill clarifies existing practices and ensures a consistent application of voting rights for prisoners.

Description

The bill establishes a clear legal ban on voting for individuals serving custodial sentences.

Key Definitions:

• Custodial sentence: Imprisonment, detention, or custody resulting from a criminal offence (including those from foreign courts).
• Local government election: Defined by section 203(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
• Prison: Institutions governed by the Prison Act 1952.
• Prisoner: Someone detained in prison, temporarily released, or unlawfully at large who would otherwise be in prison.

The bill specifies that "sentence" excludes committals for non-payment of fines or contempt of court. The bill applies to prisoners regardless of whether their sentence was imposed before or after the bill's enactment. It applies to the whole of the United Kingdom.

Government Spending

The bill is not expected to have a significant direct impact on government spending. The administrative costs associated with implementing the changes would likely be minimal.

Groups Affected

The primary group affected is prisoners serving custodial sentences. They will lose their right to vote. Electoral administrators will also be affected, as they will need to implement the new law.