By Jacqueline Richey

The 26th Amendment lowers the voting age from 21 to 18. After being approved by Congress, it was ratified in just 100 days, the shortest ratification time of any amendment.

It reads, “The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age … The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

The idea of lowering the voting age was introduced after the draft age was lowered to 18 when Congress amended the Selective Training and Service Act due to a need for more troops during World War II. President Roosevelt didn’t believe the issue was a priority and feared going against Southern Democrats who opposed it interfering with the rights of states to set their own rules for voting.

The youth voting rights movement gained ground in some states. In 1943 Georgia became the first state to lower the voting age to 18 in state and local elections. We must keep in mind, however, that Georgia had implemented Jim Crow laws so that only white young people could exercise their right to vote.

Lowering the voting age gained wide popular support during the Vietnam War, when young men who were ineligible to vote were being drafted into an unpopular war. Proponents argued that if a man was old enough to fight, he was old enough to vote.

In 1970 Senator Ted Kennedy introduced an amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age to 18.

It was passed by Congress, and President Nixon signed it into law with misgivings about its constitutionality. Oregon and Texas challenged it, and the case Oregon v. Mitchell quickly came before the Supreme Court.

A deeply divided Court held that Congress had authority to lower the voting age in federal elections but not for state and local elections. Thus, all states, which administer elections, would be required to have two election systems, one for electing the president, U.S. representatives, and U.S. senators, and another for state and local elections.

To remedy this situation the Twenty-Sixth Amendment was introduced. The Senate issued a report favoring lowering the voting age, emphasizing that most people by age 20 had graduated from high school and many had attended some higher education and that 18-20 year-olds “bear all or most of an adult’s responsibilities.” The public was aware that over half the American servicemen killed in Vietnam were between 18 and 20. The report concluded that younger voters should be given the chance “to influence our society in a peaceful and constructive manner.” Opponents expressed concerns that young people lacked sufficient maturity and life experience or fears that out-of-state college students would overly influence local elections. Some opposed federal interference in state and local elections, and others predicted that few young people would turn out to vote.

On March 10, 1971, the Senate approved the amendment 94-0. Thirteen days later the House approved it 401-19. Thirty-eight states were needed to ratify the amendment. Ohio was the 38th state, making the amendment the law of the land.

The Supreme Court has never heard a case on the 26th Amendment.

Jacqueline Richey, member of Living Democracy: Engaging Citizens, a local citizen group.

Our mission is to inform and educate the Mid-Ohio Valley about how government works on the local, state, and federal levels and how citizens can be involved to make our democracy work.

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