Can prisoners vote?

Convicted prisoners serving a sentence in prison cannot vote in UK general elections. Prisoners on remand, who have not been convicted, can vote. Since 2018 a small number of prisoners released on temporary licence or home detention curfew can vote. In Scotland, prisoners serving 12 months or less can vote in Holyrood and council elections.

The ban comes from the Representation of the People Act 1983. It applies to convicted prisoners while they are detained. It does not cover people on remand, civil prisoners jailed for contempt or fines, or people serving community sentences. Once released, people can vote again. More than 80,000 people are held in prisons in England and Wales, most of them convicted.

In 2005, in the Hirst case, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK's blanket ban breached the right to free elections. After years of dispute, the UK agreed a limited change in 2017, which took effect in 2018. Prisoners on temporary licence or home detention curfew in the community can now vote. The Council of Europe accepted this change as a sufficient response in 2018.

Scotland has gone further for its own elections. Since 2020, prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less can vote in Scottish Parliament and local elections. Supporters of wider voting say it aids rehabilitation and responsibility. Opponents say people who break the law should lose the right to vote while in prison.