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The Liberal Democrat voted against a House of Commons motion which said only those imprisoned for contempt, default or on remand should be allowed to vote.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that prisoners must be given the vote, a decision which the Government says the UK is bound to.
The motion was carried by 234 votes to 22.
Mrs Burt, a former prison officer and assistant governor, told the House: “We are not taking away a freedom from someone, but a human right.
She said: “Working in a prison is very, very tough.
“I have been physically assaulted, tricked, verbally abused and just about everything in between, so I would definitely dispute any accusations of being a bleeding-heart liberal and a soft touch.
“It was a long time ago that I served in the Prison Service, and I hope things are different now, but when I was there prisoners were treated by many staff with contempt.
“They were regarded as the lowest of the low, and not deserving of the smallest consideration.
“People who write to me today to tell me how soft prison is do not necessarily understand the nature of the punishment that prisoners undergo.
“There has been a lot of discussion about the terrible, heinous things that prisoners have done, and I in no way wish to detract from some of the terrible crimes that have been perpetrated, but I want to put the other side as well.
“More than half of people who are sentenced receive a sentence of six months or less.
“Around 70% of people come into prison addicted to class A drugs or alcohol.
“The offences committed by the women for whom I was responsible at Holloway were often minor, but persistent.
“They included fencing stolen goods and shoplifting, often to feed a habit.
“Many prisoners who commit cynical and premeditated offences, but some cherish hopes of returning to society and their families and behaving themselves, if they are given the chance.
“If we want prisoners to leave prison and rejoin society as citizens who will work, pay taxes and become full members of our society, we must wake up to the idea that depriving them of their dignity and identity as well as their liberty is not the way to go about it.”
She said: “When we take away a prisoner's human rights, we deny their humanity. We are telling them that they are worthless and reinforcing their isolation from the world.”
She finished by saying: “Let us move forward today, rather than backward. I will not be supporting the motion.”
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