Uruguay Does NOT Force Prisoners to Vote — Most Can't Vote At All

Uruguay is genuinely proud of its compulsory voting system, enshrined in Article 77 of its Constitution since 1967, and it is one of roughly 30 countries in the world that mandates voter participation. This has given Uruguay a reputation for strong civic engagement, with turnout regularly exceeding 90%. It is this very real 'mandatory voting' culture that likely seeds myths like this one. However, the claim is wrong in every particular when applied to prisoners. Most convicted inmates in Uruguay have their citizenship rights — and therefore their right to vote — suspended under Article 80 of the Constitution for the duration of their criminal proceedings. A 1999 reform to the Electoral Law went further, banning polling stations in Ministry of Interior facilities (i.e., prisons), which even blocks prisoners who technically retain eligibility (such as some pre-trial detainees) from exercising their vote in practice. Uruguayan human rights advocates, including the country's Commissioner for Penitentiary Affairs, have argued for years that this state of affairs violates constitutional rights, and the debate over granting prisoners the vote has been active in Uruguayan political discourse. Ironically, Uruguay's actual problem is the opposite of the myth: rights groups argue the system unjustly strips prisoners of the vote, not that it coerces them to exercise it.