Public Address | Cafe | Legal Beagle: Oops: how some prisoners serving life sentences get to vote

steve black

Wed, 18 Sept 2013 14:50:37 +1200

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to be spiders.

Moz

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 19:59:51 +1200

Thank you sir, you're a gentleman.

Andrew Geddis

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 19:45:04 +1200

Now I'm curious – does this apply to suspended sentences, or only served ones?

Only to served ones (i.e. to persons "detained in a prison pursuant to a sentence of imprisonment").

Also, does not being able to vote also mean you can't legally donate to political parties?

Any person who…

Andrew Geddis

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 19:40:01 +1200

It is of course possible that some of these prisoners were otherwise disqualified as at 16 December 2010 (it's not Corrections' job to know this)...

But highly unlikely, no?

They'll all be over 18. If they weren't NZ Citizens or permanent residents, they'd have been deported on release (thus not…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 17:08:31 +1200

Did the OIA give you the names of the prisoners who would have been barred from voting, but now can?

No. I didn't ask, and if I had asked, would have been disappointed to be told.

I can't guess what the 160 prisoners serving determinate sentences are in for, but…

Chris Waugh

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 16:09:07 +1200

I was wondering what the rationale behind disenfranchising prisoners is. I find the idea of disenfranchising any citizen abhorrent. So what if they've committed a crime (or been overseas for over three years), they're still citizens, still have a valid interest in their country's governance, and should not be stripped…

Moz

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 12:30:50 +1200

Now I'm curious – does this apply to suspended sentences, or only served ones? For example, if someone is sentenced to (say) 1 year suspended, can they vote during that time?

I'm curious because in the rare cases where white collar criminals are sentenced to prison it's often suspended to…

Ross Mason

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 09:02:45 +1200

Prison Manager link broken.

Andrew Geddis

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 08:11:47 +1200

Graeme,

This really is excellent work (and sorry for my snippiness on another comment thread – more fool me for not recognising the importance of the issue).

Did the OIA give you the names of the prisoners who would have been barred from voting, but now can? I’d be keen…

Grassed Up

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 08:10:17 +1200

Nice.

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 07:51:03 +1200

I should point out that there are a large number of other prisoners who can vote, and could vote under the old law, including people on remand, people on extradition warrants, those imprisoned for non-payment of fines, people imprisoned for contempt of court and others.

Public Address

Tue, 17 Sept 2013 07:51:03 +1200

Discussion from blog post.