1/ Nova Scotia in one of the few (maybe the only) places in Canada that disqualifies incarcerated people from voting in municipal elections, as @jennlmtaylor highlights https://twitter.com/jennlmtaylor/status/1290308339700645889

2/ The NS Municipal Election Act disqualifies: "a person serving a sentence in a penal or reform institution" (s. 15) from voting in municipal elections.

Other provinces and territories have repealed such disqualifications because they are unjust.

3/ Given the over-representation of Indigenous and racialized people, poor people, and people with mental health and substance use issues in jails and prisons, the impact of the disqualification is unequally distributed--impacting oppressed communities the most.

El Jones noted:

4/ "It is unconscionable in these times that incarcerated people, many of whom are the victims of the very systems thousands of people in Halifax are hitting the streets to protest, should be prevented from exercising the most basic right to vote." https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/prisoners-should-have-the-right-to-vote-in-the-upcoming-municipal-elections/

5/ The issue was considered in 2002 (Sauvé v. Canada).

The Supreme Court of Canada examined how the Canada Elections Act violated s. 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by excluding people "imprisoned in a correctional institution serving a sentence of two years or more"

6/ Under Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms:

"Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein."

7/ Chief Justice McLachlin ruled that:

"Charter rights are not a matter of privilege or merit, but a function of membership in the Canadian polity that cannot lightly be cast aside. This is manifestly true of the right to vote, the cornerstone of democracy"

She stated that...

8/ The disqualification undermines human dignity:

"Denying citizens the right to vote runs counter to our constitutional commitment to the inherent worth and dignity of every individual"...

9/ The disqualification disenfranchises:

"The government is making a decision that some people...are not morally worthy to vote — that they do not “deserve” to be considered members of the community"

10/ The disqualification is non-rehabilitative:

"To deny prisoners the right to vote is to lose an important means of teaching them democratic values and social responsibility."

11/ The disqualification impairs reintegration:

"Denying citizen law-breakers the right to vote sends the message that those who commit serious breaches are no longer valued as members of the community, but instead are temporary outcasts from our system of rights and democracy"

12/ The disqualification promotes injustice:

"It sends the unacceptable message that democratic values are less important than punitive measures ostensibly designed to promote order."

13/ The disqualification is unconstitutional and unjustifiable:

"Denial of the right to vote on the basis of attributed moral unworthiness is inconsistent with the respect for the dignity of every person that lies at the heart of Canadian democracy and the Charter"

14/ The Sauvé v. Canada (2002) decision granted the right to vote in federal elections to all incarcerated people.

The ruling didn't directly apply to other types of elections although the Election Acts of other Canadian provinces and territories comply, except for NS where...

15/ By taking voting rights away from incarcerated people, the NS Municipal Election Act:

Denies a fundamental right
Undermines human dignity
Exacerbates disenfranchisement
Obstructs rehabilitation
Hampers reintegration
Promotes Injustice
Permits unconstitutional practices

16/ Nova Scotia is out of step with other provinces and territories, as well as human rights principles.

People who are incarcerated in NS must be permitted to vote in municipal elections.

Repeal Section 15 of the NS Municipal Election Act.

#NSpoli @MarkFurey1 @NS_Justice

*Section 15(c)