The Electoral Commission has suggested social media trolls who abuse politicians should lose their right to vote, in a submission to the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
A voting ban could “could act as a deterrent to abusive behaviour”, the Commission wrote in comments on the CSPL’s investigation into intimidation in the 2017 General Election. The Electoral Commission is the UK’s regulator for general and local government elections.The Electoral Commission wrote:
21. In some instances, electoral law does specify offences in respect of behaviour that could also amount to an offence under the general criminal law. This is often because electoral offences have special consequences, in that their commission could invalidate the election result and result in the person convicted losing their elected office and/or being subject to a period of disqualification from being registered as an elector, voting in an election and standing for election (section 173 RPA 1983). It may be that similar special electoral consequences could act as a deterrent to abusive behaviour in relation to candidates and campaigners.
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