The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1971, prohibits age-based denial of voting rights for those aged 18 or older. It was adopted in response to student antiwar activism and a Supreme Court decision. The amendment has two sections, with the second reserving the right of Congress to enforce it. The ratification process was completed in just 100 days, making it the fastest in American history. The amendment was part of a series of constitutional changes that protected and extended voting rights for specific groups.
The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits US federal and state governments from denying someone 18 years of age or older the right to vote on grounds of age. This amendment was added to the United States Constitution on July 1, 1971 after 38 states ratified it. Although eight states never ratified the 26th Amendment, the required three-quarters of the states did, and thus its adoption was certified by the General Services Administrator. The amendment was adopted in partial response to student antiwar activism and the 1970 Supreme Court decision in Oregon v. Mitchell.
There are two sections in the 26th amendment. The first provides that the right to vote of citizens who have reached the age of 18 cannot be denied on grounds of age. The second section reserves the right of Congress to enforce the amendment with appropriate legislation.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated his support for the prohibition of age-based denial in his 1954 State of the Union address. It was not until 1970 that the establishment of 18 as the age of voting in all elections was signed into law, however, by President Richard Nixon as an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Oregon and Texas quickly launched a legal challenge to the law arguing that states should be allowed set their own age limits for state elections.
The US Supreme Court has heard arguments in Oregon v. Mitchell in 1970. The court found that although Congress had the power to establish electoral requirements in federal elections, this authority did not extend to state and local elections. The question of whether the federal government can prevent states from lowering the voting age below 18 for state and local elections remains open as of 2011.
This decision, coupled with the fact that at the time many ineligible young men were old enough to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, motivated the speedy ratification of the 26th amendment. The process began in March 1971, when Congress voted in favor of the proposed 26th amendment. The Senate approved unanimously, while 19 of the 420 representatives in the House opposed. Four months later, Congress presented the amendment to the states for ratification.
For an amendment to be adopted as part of the Constitution, it must first be ratified by three-quarters of the states. The 26th amendment was ratified by 42 states in about 100 days. It is the fastest ratification in American history; in most cases, the ratification process can take at least 200 days to complete and is not always successful.
The 26th amendment was part of a series of constitutional changes including the 19th, 23rd and 24th amendments that protected and extended voting rights for specific groups of people. The 19th amendment established the right to vote for women, while the 23rd amendment gave citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections. The 24th Amendment prohibited charging a poll tax to vote, thus protecting people who could not afford such taxes.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
