
Note: An earlier version of this post noted Tories were the most popular choice of incarcerated individuals.
Elections Canada, however, does not publish figures to show how prisoners voted exclusively, according to the referenced article. Instead, their votes are lumped in with other special ballots cast by Canadians living abroad and Canadian Forces members stationed away from their home ridings.
Those who have been convicted of a criminal activity and military personnel living outside their ridings voted in large numbers for the "tough-on-crime" Harper Conservatives in the last election.
A story in the Ottawa Citizen reported more than 17,000 incarcerated citizens cast ballots for the May 2 election, a 27 per cent increase from the 2008 election.
Elections Canada does not publish figures to show how prisoners voted, according to the article. Instead, their votes are lumped in with other special ballots cast by Canadians living abroad and Canadian Forces members stationed away from their home ridings.
Collectively, 46 per cent of that group voted for the Conservatives, 29 per cent for the Liberals and just 15 per cent for the New Democrats.
In Canada, prisoners were granted the right to vote in 2002 when the Supreme Court ruled disenfranchising incarcerated electors violated Section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
(Getty Images)


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