this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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In a democracy, I don't see how their vote really matters less. Plus it'll help improve prisons perhaps.

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[–] MapleEngineer 48 points 6 months ago (2 children)

They are allowed to vote in civilized countries.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (5 children)

What do you think of France, UK, Italy and China? Because a prisoners right to vote can be removed in those countries as well.

[–] kerrigan778 18 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ah yes, China, a well known bastion of civil liberties.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I should mention that I don't disagree with the post, I just wanted to highlight it isn't a US only issue

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

where in this thread does anyone say this is a us only issue?

[–] MapleEngineer 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Whatabout the UK, France, and China?

The UK whose flailing neo-fascist government just passed a law allowing it to deport refugees to Rwanda? Whose government is about to experience a historic blowout at the polls? Whose government destroyed their economy by pulling them out of the EU to try to regain the glory of the empire? That UK?

France with is neoliberal government? Macaron had spent so much time attacking workers and their rights to steal from the rich and give to the poor that he's almost handed the counry to the fascist brownshirts of Marine Le Pen?

This Italy? ?

And China?

I believe I said, "civilized countries".

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm very familiar with what aboutism, and that's not what I intended to do with my question.

This forum has many biases and I feel that for us to have an opinion on an issue it should be applied to all equitably and not just because the party someone hates does it.

I don't disagree with the topic, I just disagree with how you stated it.

[–] MapleEngineer 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

In civilized countries every citizen has the right to vote and equal access to the ballot box. The US has neither of those things. I stand by what I said.

[–] gaael 6 points 6 months ago

In France we treat our prisoners like utter shit. If they way you treat the people you have power over is an important marker of civilization/democracy (and I believe it is), we fail this test real hard.

That being said, the tribunal has to specifically add to the prison sentence an exclusion from the right to vote. Iirc, about 25k prisoners (among the 75 or 80k total) have been deprived from the right to vote during their sentence.

Voting from prison in France is complicated,there are 3 options afaik:

  • you can delegate your vote to someone on the outside
  • you can resquest a "day off" to go to the polls
  • since 2019 you can vote by correspondance

The "can I please go out to vote" has to be approved by the warden, and dosen't happen much.
Delegating your vote isn't always easy either, prison has a tendancy to isolate people from their former close ones.
The correspondance vote is recent and seems like the best of the three. In 2017 (presidential electio ), less than 2% of imprisoned people had voted. In the 2022 presidential election, more than 20% of them did.

So far, voting logistics and the feeling that society doesn't want you has imo prevented far more people to vote than the "you can't vote for the next x years" addendum to sentences.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

How is China civilized?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Inventors of democracy and land of the free baby!

[–] Drivebyhaiku 1 points 6 months ago

They just handing out babies where you are? That just doesn't seem responsible!