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| Canada's convicts set to vote |
| By Calgary Sun |
| Published: 04/06/2004 |
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Federal inmates will be casting ballots behind bars in the upcoming election. Elections Canada has laid out the process to have prisons double as polling stations after the Supreme Court ruled that denying inmates a vote violates their constitutional rights. The 2002 judgment threw out an Elections Act provision that barred convicted criminals -- including serial killers and rapists -- the right to help choose the next government. Barbara Hill, director of policy development for the John Howard Society of Canada, said awarding prisoners the ability to exercise their "fundamental right" will aid in their rehabilitation. "We would encourage them to vote, because for us the right to vote is an important, democratic right and it's part of becoming involved in the community," she said." But, Sharon Rosenfeldt, whose teenage son Daryn was brutally murdered by serial-killer Clifford Olson, said people give up certain rights when they commit a serious crime. "It just doesn't make sense to me -- I'm appalled," she said. "He took my child's life. That separates him from other citizens of Canada who do have the right to vote. My son had the fundamental right to live, and he took that right." Conservative MP Vic Toews believes parliamentarians, not Supreme Court justices, should make the decision on prisoners' voting privileges. "It brings the vote into disrepute. I think in that sense, it impacts adversely on the whole concept of voting and the special nature of the rights of citizens to elect governments," he said. BALLOTS BEHIND BARS * WHO: All inmates, 18 years or older, serving federal sentences of two or more years are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. There are currently 12,044 male inmates and 395 females at federal penitentiaries. An inmate can vote for candidates in the riding where he lived before being incarcerated, where he was arrested or where he was convicted and sentenced. *WHERE: Prisoners vote on the 10th day before election day at a station set up within the institution. *WHEN: Ballots of incarcerated electors will be counted at the same time as other Canadians absent from their electoral districts, such as members of the Canadian Forces. |
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