There has been a sharp rise in the number of UK prisoners taking legal action to secure the right to vote.
The number now applying to the European Court of Human Rights has risen by 1,000.
All the cases are currently suspended while the government decides how to respond to the court's ruling that prisoners should get the vote.
It is thought the increase could be due to solicitors encouraging prisoners to apply for compensation.
At the end of 2010 Mark Harper, the Cabinet Office minister, said that around 2,500 cases were outstanding at the court in Strasbourg.
But this week in a written answer to the Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan, he said that the figure had risen to 3,500.
While the government considers its position on the issue the ECHR is also deciding whether to reconsider the cases which prompted the ruling in the first place.
Last year, Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons that it made him feel "physically ill" to think about giving the vote to anyone who was in prison.
This is quite a sensitive and tricky topic. I have heard so many different opinions on the issue and these people are very passionate about their opinions. Interesting to see how this unfolds.
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