How are sobriety checkpoints legal?

[Ms2001]

@Big Whistle

But there is a difference between signing up to vote and proving that you are qualified to drive. One can be taken away (the ability to drive legally), the other can’t (voting). You persistently ignore this difference in attempting to treat each the same.

No, you’re just ignoring the facts. The right to vote can be suspended or revoked entirely in many (most?) states if you’re convicted of certain crimes, as groman pointed out.

@Monty

Once you prove to the satisfaction of the government that you are who you are and that you are of age to vote, the government cannot–absent convicting you of a crime–deny you the vote nor can the government dictate to you how you may exercise that vote. In other words, the government cannot tell you who to cast you vote for. On the other hand, it can and does dictate to you a number of restrictions on how you exercise your privilege of driving.

Ah, but the government does tell you how you may exercise the right to vote. They don’t tell you who to vote for, just like they don’t tell you what destination to drive to, but they do tell you where and when you may vote and how you must behave while you’re in a polling place. It’s physically a less complicated act than driving, so there are fewer restrictions, but I believe they’re comparable.

So you admit that the government has a right to monitor your use of the privilege of driving? You admit that it’s okay for the government to check on you, albeit randomly, for your current qualification (not under the influence) to be operating a motor vehicle?

Only if they have a reason to believe I’ve become less qualified to drive.

People who are driving erratically are more likely to be drunk than the average driver, and so are people leaving a bar, so I don’t mind testing them. But being at a certain intersection or being the 5th car in line doesn’t make me any more likely to be drunk than anyone else.