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Chile

Capital city — Santiago

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Panorama
Contributor(s)Prison Insider

Right to vote

Overview

Untried prisoners are allowed to vote

Yes

i
03/2019
/ Leasur

In Chile, untried prisoners keep their right to vote. However, in practice, they cannot exercise this right since voting procedures have not been implemented in prisons.

Convicted people are allowed to vote

no

i
03/2019
/ Leasur

People sentenced to nonafflictive punishment—that is sentences less than three years and one day, are entitled by the Constitution to exercise their suffrage (although not possible to do so in practice).

People sentenced to afflictive punishment —regardless of the crime—, people sentenced for terrorist behavior crimes, and those sentenced for drug trafficking crimes liable to afflictive punishment lose their status as citizens and are deprived of the right to vote, in accordance with article 17 of the Chilean Constitution.

Organising the vote

Under no circumstances, given that the suffrage of persons deprived of their liberty, authorized by the Constitution, is not even respected. In other words, people awaiting trial and those convicted to nonafflictive sentences.

In this case, it is about an infringement of human rights since there is no legal restriction but a de facto reality, contrary to the Constitution and international treaties as regards human rights, and its situation is due to the fact that the state of Chile has not established a mechanism to enable the exercise of their electoral rights.