Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

[minionofmidas]

I'm the only one to vote Yes.
What's wrong with you guys? Too much thirst for revenge? Too little respect for your fellow men?

[minionofmidas]

I'm the only one to vote Yes.
What's wrong with you guys? Too much thirst for revenge? Too little respect for your fellow men?

It is the criminals who had too little respect for their fellow man hence there voting rights revoked.

Too much thirst for revenge then in your case.
Having committed a crime (and remember that murderers etc are totally untypical of the prison population. Small time marijuana dealers are typical.) does not mean you cease to be a member of society. The state is just the organization of society, and the franchise is the principal means to ensure it stays that way.
I don't think prisoners can vote in Germany, btw, although I know released prisoners can.

[minionofmidas]

Could their votes really make much difference?

(not rhetorical, I actually don't know. Somebody please answer!)

Depends (of course in a close race it would make all the difference).
a) How many of them would vote? And what would the partisan breakdown be?
I'm pretty sure that most wouldn't bother to vote. The partisan breakdown in America would be pretty overwhelmingly for the Democrats, though.
b) Where would their votes be counted? At their last ordinary place of residence, like for military voters, or in the place the prison is situated? In the latter case, America's giant prison complexes in the countryside could not function if prisoners simply took over the town they're in at the ballot box. That would be pretty ridiculous.

[minionofmidas]

in Australia, all prisoners vote. There is a 100% turnout, because the AEC sets up booths in prison that they have to attend

Well, of course Australia has compulsory voting for everybody.
Nice to see the yes vote has picked up.

[minionofmidas]

I am a big fan of democracy, so of course I will say yes. Voting is a right worth more than life itself. Give me democracy or give me death!

This is why the voting age should be eliminated as well. Anyone who disagrees with me is that much closer to Hitler

The whole point in removing a convicted criminals right to vote is due to the fact that the criminal permaturely removed somebody elses constitutional rights.

Of course this applies to a minority of prisoners only...even if you do count property rights.

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The problem with stripping people's voting rights off is this...
Government, and laws, are morally justified by the consent of the governed. This consent is expressed, in our society, by the ballot.
Take away a man's right to vote and you take away your own moral right to punish him for any other crime he might later commit.
At least that's my point of view. Taking away a man's right to vote is just behind the death penalty in hideousness. Neither is compatible with a real democracy. (Oops, forget about that part. You support the death penalty, after all. )

As for Earl's point on the voting age, yeah in theory I agree. There's some practical problems though...but personally I wouldn't object to lowering the voting age to 10 or 12.

[minionofmidas]

Now if you get the weird situation where a majority of your citizens are criminals- well maybe you have bigger problems.

+2 brownie points

Looking at stuff like tax evasion, marijuana consumption, DWI...yeah, I'm VERY sure a majority of our citizens are technically criminals.