# FILE NAME: 00001337.soc
# TITLE: Should prisoners be allowed to vote? [c6f83f4c860220ebff02cd0ad4f3c0c2]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 3
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - In general, prisoners should not be allowed to vote. The fact that someone is in prison clearly indicates they should lose some of their civil rights, the right to vote should only belong to law-abiding citizens. By allowing a prisoner to vote, this sends the wrong message that they can still contribute to society despite violating it. Furthermore, public opinion is very clearly opposed to giving prisoners the vote. This would cause a huge issue in the U.K if prisoners were allowed to vote, potentially leading to civil unrest and protests. Lastly, it would be very impractical to allow prisoners to vote. Prisons often have very large populations, some as high as 2,000 inmates. These numbers could be enough to sway a tight election and could force politicians to campaign to prisoners - which is absurd and wrong.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - “We have debated the issue of prisoner’s voting rights at length and believe that, on balance, prisoners should not be allowed to vote in U.K elections. There are several arguments for our stance. Firstly, we believe that if a person is in prison for breaking the law, they have demonstrated that they do not follow the rules and thus should not have the right to vote. Secondly, public opinion is very much opposed to allowing prisoners the vote, with a recent survey by the Daily Mail indicating that only 7% of people believe that prisoners should be allowed to vote. Thirdly, if prisoners were allowed to vote, politicians would campaign to them and may make policies which appeal to prisoners in order to gain their votes. Lastly, we believe that prisoners should lose some of their civil rights and should not be allowed to vote. The right to vote is a privilege and not a right. It is something that we believe should only belong to law-abiding citizens.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - Some prisoners should be allowed to vote, but only if they are able to provide the prison with a consistent address and if they can meet the necessary criteria for voting in the U.K, including age and nationality. The participants also decided that some prisoners would not be allowed to vote, including prisoners convicted of serious crimes, such as murder or rape, as well as prisoners with mental illnesses.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - Prisoners in the United Kingdom should not be allowed to vote. The fact that someone is in prison clearly indicates they should lose some of their civil rights, the right to vote should only belong to law-abiding citizens. By allowing a prisoner to vote, this sends the wrong message that they can still contribute to society despite violating it. Furthermore, public opinion is very clearly opposed to giving prisoners the vote. This would cause a huge issue in the U.K if prisoners were allowed to vote, potentially leading to civil unrest and protests. Lastly, it would be very impractical to allow prisoners to vote. Prisons often have very large populations, some as high as 2,000 inmates. These numbers could be enough to sway a tight election and could force politicians to campaign to prisoners - which is absurd and wrong.
3: 2,1,4,3
1: 3,1,4,2
1: 2,4,1,3