The Right to Vote is a Political Right

The conduct of satellite registration in the premises of City Jail here in GenSan and other parts of the country by the Commission on Elections paved the way for the detainees to be registered. For the first time, detainees en masse in various detention facilities, who are not otherwise disqualified, are being allowed to register and vote, in the upcoming elections.

However, there is a looming impossibility for the inmates to exercise their right to suffrage. It is because of the Provision in Section 155 of the Omnibus Election Code “prohibiting polling places inside prison compounds”.

The Commission on Human rights argued that the detention per se does not disqualify persons deprived of their liberty from exercising their right to vote. In a petition submitted by the Commission on Human Rights to the Commission on Elections, it emphasized that “the right to vote is a political right. This right can only be taken away either by disqualification as provided by law or by legal deprivation of the exercise of civil and political rights as declared by a court”.

Whether or not the inmates can exercise their right to suffrage is still debated and being pursued by the Commission on Human Rights. I wonder if the same is applicable for people in drug rehab.