UK prisoners could reduce voting ban

A European Court of Justice ruling on a case in France means that British prisoners could challenge the ban on them voting in European elections.

Although the ban on Thierry Delvigne, a convicted murderer, being able to vote was upheld by the court, it was on the basis that the ban was “proportionate” to the crime, thus allowing convicted criminals with lesser charges to challenge the ban.

Delvigne was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in 1988 and permanently deprived of the right to vote, but he claimed the ban was an infringement of his civil and political rights.

Sean Humber, a solicitor at personal injury and human rights firm Leigh Day, said that the ruling would put pressure on the government in Britain to allow at least a small number of prisoners the right to vote.

Prime Minister David Cameron said that the British law, which enforces a blanket ban on the voting rights of all prisoners in European elections, “has been tested recently and our Supreme Court opined that our law was right and that prisoners shouldn’t have the vote.”