A HOLYROOD committee has recommended that prisoners and foreign nationals living in Scotland should have the right to vote.
The Scottish Government has been urged to make changes to election laws “driven by principle and evidence”. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee wants to abolish an “unsustainable” ban on inmate voting and enable foreign residents to stand in elections.
Following scrutiny of a bill seeking to extend the vote in Scotland, a majority of MSPs on the committee backed plans to allow people from overseas to contest Scottish elections as well as being able to vote.
MSPs acknowledged concerns foreign residents who are elected but do not have the right to remain permanently might have to stand down to return to their country of origin. But they argued “the chances of this happening are slim” and pointed out any elected representative could have to stand down for a number of reasons.
The Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Bill aims to give the right to vote to citizens of all countries who are legally resident in Scotland, extend candidacy rights. It would also give the vote to prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less following a court ruling that a complete ban on prisoner voting breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In their report, MSPs call on the government to ensure more eligible voters are registered and to consider whether the franchise should be extended to asylum seekers.
Committee convener Bill Kidd said: “Voting is about so much more than choosing our politicians. It is about feeling empowered and a part of a community. Having the opportunity to influence lawmakers and decision-takers is something that many of us take for granted and for the majority of the committee the aim to extend this right to foreign nationals is warmly welcomed.
The report argues that only giving short-term prisoners the right to vote risks still being inconsistent with the ECHR ruling. The new presumption against prison sentences of less than a year, meaning very few convicts given short sentences are likely to serve time behind bars.
Deputy convener Mark Ruskell MSP said: “It is important that Scotland complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the majority of the committee agreed the franchise in Scotland should be extended to those prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less.”
Tories Jamie Halcro Johnston and Tom Mason were the two members of the seven-strong committee to reject the bill’s principles.
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