Lawmaker Claims Voting is Not a Right

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http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/04/23/lawmaker_claims_voting_is_not_a_right.html

Lawmaker Claims Voting is Not a Right


Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R) claimed that voting is "a privilege, it's not a right," according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Said Zellers: "When you go to even a Burger King or a McDonalds and use your debit card, they'll ask you to see your ID. Should we have to do that when we vote, something that is one of the most sacred -- I think it's a privilege, it's not a right. Everybody doesn't get it, because if you go to jail or if you commit some heinous crime your rights are taken away. This is a privilege."

Zellers later backed off the comment recognizing the right to vote is explicitly protected by several constitutional provisions, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.