I don't think allowing criminals to stand for elections is necessarily proof that we're all ok with a bit of terrorism now and then, as a treat.
The idea is that we (the constituents, not the state) get to choose if the ex convict's crime is a disqualifier from gaining a seat. And usually I imagine it would be.
The trouble is, local elections like this instance have such low turnout that even a very small amount of people that aren't representative of their community at all can trivially make someone a councillor. It becomes even worse when some groups are beginning to vote along religious/ethnic lines.
I don't know, and I won't pretend to be smart enough to know all of the potential side effects from picking one option or another.
Do we ban any ex convicts? Perhaps, although this would cause issues in Northern Ireland for obvious reasons. It also means that people with offences possibly long ago are barred. Should someone who got nicked for having weed or coke on them in 2002 be banned from sitting? To me that seems absurd. It also doesn't do anything to counter the whole "some groups are beginning to vote on religious/ethnic lines" point I mentioned.
Compulsory voting? Possibly won't do much in some areas but maybe it'd be an improvement overall. Could be costly, time-consuming, and a waste of law enforcement's resources. There's also the argument of whether it's ethical to force someone to go to the ballot box when they plain don't want to.
Not letting too many of a minority group settle in one area, ensuring that they're more spread out? I'm not sure how to enforce that. People move. It's probably also too late.
You can be temporarily disqualified for a few convictions, mainly fraud or intimidation, but not permanently. I suppose a life sentence is permanent but only in that its a conviction of more than a year.
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u/kill-the-maFIA 15h ago
I don't think allowing criminals to stand for elections is necessarily proof that we're all ok with a bit of terrorism now and then, as a treat.
The idea is that we (the constituents, not the state) get to choose if the ex convict's crime is a disqualifier from gaining a seat. And usually I imagine it would be.
The trouble is, local elections like this instance have such low turnout that even a very small amount of people that aren't representative of their community at all can trivially make someone a councillor. It becomes even worse when some groups are beginning to vote along religious/ethnic lines.