An Unfinished Journey:

Right to Vote

The Constitution gives each state the power to restrict the right to vote if the qualifications are not discriminatory and do not violate the Constitution or federal law.

• The Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the Constitution prohibit a state from denying a U.S. citizen the right to vote on account of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" or sex, but not disability.
• The right to vote generally is recognized as a "liberty interest" protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.
• So, a state can only take that right away if it does not violate the due process or equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Most states have provisions that deny the right to vote to people with mental incapacities. Under Minnesota's Constitution, "people under guardianship" and people who are "insane or not mentally competent" are not allowed to vote. However, Minnesota's laws on voting and guardianship provide that people under guardianship retain the right to vote unless that vote is specifically revoked in the guardianship proceeding, or the person is judged legally incompetent.

Photo of Judge Donovan W. Frank.

In 2013, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a 2012 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank holding that Minnesota's constitutional prohibition against voting based on guardianship status applies only when there has been a specific judicial finding of incapacity to vote.

Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Ritchie. Although the language in Minnesota's Constitution would seem to prohibit individuals "under guardianship" from voting, state law clarifies that "persons under guardianship are presumed to retain the right to vote unless otherwise ordered by a court."  

Stock Photo: A polling place with a sign that says, "Vote Here" with an arrow pointing to an open door with a US flag in the window.

Link to https://disabilityjustice.org/right-to-vote/