• Susanna Mercy Jacob
• Ms. Jayanthi Bai HL

The Revolutions in the 18th and 19th century shaped the world as we know today. One among the major political causes that stirred mutiny was suffrage. Whilst the world saw the manifestation of this struggle into ‘Universal Adult Suffrage’, the recent decades have seen a sharp curve derecognizing the status of voters and among them the worst affected are prisoners. Many countries around the world, including the US, UK and India, through legislation have placed restriction on prisoners, sometimes even ex-felons, from casting their votes at various levels. Many of these countries represent the biggest democracies in the world, whilst a significant part of their population is debarred from exercising their ‘Right to Vote’, which has been recognised as one among the fundamental covenants of democracy. Voting rights are an especially powerful symbol of inclusion in the society and their denial is often criticized, as prisoners and ex-convicts must continue to pay taxes, abide by laws they cannot contribute to making, and uphold other responsibilities as citizens. According to political thinkers , the importance of suffrage is that it stands as a ‘certificate of social standing’ and as the basis for dignity. A general trend of calling this a ‘retributive’ mechanism has failed to prove its significance and there is a dire need to study and understand disenfranchisement in relation to rehabilitative mechanisms of punishment, that is gaining momentum around the world. There exists a general absence of any uniform principle governing limitations of universal suffrage due to felony charges, and any attempt of analyzing this would require an in-depth study of the philosophy of disenfranchisement. The authors aim to study the changing dynamics of disenfranchisement in the light of human rights jurisprudence around the globe.

Disenfranchisement, Prisoners, Right to Vote, Democracy

"CRIMINAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF PRISONERS: A COMPARATIVE AND CONSTITUTIONAL STUDY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.261-269, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907F35.pdf

"CRIMINAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF PRISONERS: A COMPARATIVE AND CONSTITUTIONAL STUDY", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp261-269, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907F35.pdf