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The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution establishes a nationally standardized minimum age of 18 for participation in state and federal elections. It was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and three-fourths of the states ratified it by July 1, 1971.
Various public officials had supported lowering the voting age during the mid-20th century, but were unable to gain the legislative momentum necessary for passing a constitutional amendment.
The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew across the country during the 1960's and was driven in part by the military draft held during the Vietnam War. The draft conscripted young men between the ages of 18 and 21 into the United States Armed Forces, primarily the U.S. Army, to serve in or support military combat operations in Vietnam. This means young men could be required to fight and possibly die for their nation in wartime at 18. However, these same citizens could not have a legal say in the government's decision to wage that war until the age of 21. A youth rights movement emerged in response, calling for a similarly reduced voting age. A common slogan of proponents of lowering the voting age was "old enough to fight, old enough to vote".
Determined to get around inaction on the issue, congressional allies included a provision for the 18-year-old vote in a 1970 bill that extended the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court subsequently held in the case of Oregon v. Mitchell that Congress could not lower the voting age for state and local elections. Recognizing the confusion and costs that would be involved in maintaining separate voting rolls and elections for federal and state contests, Congress quickly proposed and the states ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
Text
Section 1. 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Background
The framers of the U.S. Constitution did not establish specific criteria for national citizenship or voting qualifications in state or federal elections. Before the Twenty-sixth Amendment, states had the authority to set their own minimum voting ages, which was typically 21 as the national standard.
Senator Harley Kilgore began advocating for a lowered voting age in 1941 in the 77th Congress. Despite the support of fellow senators, representatives, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Congress failed to pass any national change. However, public interest in lowering the voting age became a topic of interest at the local level. In 1943 and 1955 respectively, the Georgia and Kentucky legislatures approved measures to lower the voting age to 18.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his 1954 State of the Union address, became the first president to publicly support prohibiting age-based denials of suffrage for those 18 and older. During the 1960s, both Congress and the state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. This was in large part due to the Vietnam War, in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight in the war, thus lacking any means to influence the people sending them off to risk their lives. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was a common slogan used by proponents of lowering the voting age. The slogan traced its roots to World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt lowered the military draft age to 18.
In 1963, the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, in its report to President Lyndon Johnson, encouraged lowering the voting age. Johnson proposed an immediate national grant of the right to vote to 18-year-olds on May 29, 1968. Historian Thomas H. Neale argues that the move to lower the voting age followed a historical pattern similar to other extensions of the franchise; with the escalation of the war in Vietnam, constituents were mobilized and eventually a constitutional amendment passed.
Those advocating for a lower voting age drew on a range of arguments to promote their cause, and scholarship increasingly links the rise of support for a lower voting age to young people's role in the civil rights movement and other movements for social and political change of the 1950s and 1960s. Increasing high-school graduation rates and young people's access to political information through new technologies also influenced more positive views of their preparation for the most important right of citizenship.
Between 1942, when public debates about a lower voting age began in earnest, and the early 1970s, ideas about youth agency increasingly challenged the caretaking model that had previously dominated the nation's approaches to young people's rights. Characteristics traditionally associated with youth—idealism, lack of "vested interests", and openness to new ideas—came to be seen as positive qualities for a political system that seemed to be in crisis.
In 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy proposed amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age nationally. On June 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state, and local elections. In his statement on signing the extension, Nixon said:
Despite my misgivings about the constitutionality of this one provision, I have signed the bill. I have directed the Attorney General to cooperate fully in expediting a swift court test of the constitutionality of the 18-year-old provision.
Subsequently, Oregon and Texas challenged the law in court, and the case came before the Supreme Court in 1970 as Oregon v. Mitchell. By this time, four states had a minimum voting age below 21: Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Oregon v. Mitchell
During debate of the 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act, Senator Ted Kennedy argued that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment allowed Congress to pass national legislation lowering the voting age. In Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966), the Supreme Court had ruled that if Congress acted to enforce the 14th Amendment by passing a law declaring that a type of state law discriminates against a certain class of persons, the Supreme Court would let the law stand if the justices could "perceive a basis" for Congress's actions.
President Nixon disagreed with Kennedy in a letter to the Speaker of the House and the House minority and majority leaders, asserting that the issue was not whether the voting age should be lowered, but how. In his own interpretation of Katzenbach, Nixon argued that to include age as a possible parameter of discrimination would overstretch the concept, and voiced concerns that the damage of a Supreme Court decision to overturn the Voting Rights Act could be disastrous.
In Oregon v. Mitchell (1970), the Supreme Court considered whether the voting-age provisions Congress added to the Voting Rights Act in 1970 were constitutional. The Court struck down the provisions that established 18 as the voting age in state and local elections. However, the Court upheld the provision establishing the voting age as 18 in federal elections. The Court was deeply divided in this case, and a majority of justices did not agree on a rationale for the holding.
The decision resulted in states being able to maintain 21 as the voting age in state and local elections, but being required to establish separate voter rolls so that voters between 18 and 21 years old could vote in federal elections.
Opposition
Although the Twenty-sixth Amendment passed faster than any other constitutional amendment, about 17 states refused to pass measures to lower their minimum voting ages after Nixon signed the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act. Opponents to extending the vote to youths questioned the maturity and responsibility of people at the age of 18. Representative Emanuel Celler of New York, one of the most vocal opponents of a lower voting age from the 1940s through 1970 (and Chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee for much of that period), insisted that youth lacked "the good judgment" essential to good citizenship and that the qualities that made youth good soldiers did not also make them good voters.
Professor William G. Carleton wondered why the vote was proposed for youth at a time when the period of adolescence had grown so substantially rather than in the past when people had more responsibilities at earlier ages. Carleton further criticized the move to lower the voting age, citing American preoccupations with youth in general, exaggerated reliance on higher education, and equating technological savvy with responsibility and intelligence. He denounced the military service argument as well, calling it a "cliche". Considering the ages of soldiers in the Civil War, he asserted that literacy and education were not the grounds for limiting voting; rather, common sense and the capacity to understand the political system grounded voting-age restrictions.
James J. Kilpatrick, a political columnist, asserted that the states were "extorted" into ratifying the Twenty-sixth Amendment. In his article, he claims that, by passing the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act, Congress effectively forced the States to ratify the amendment lest they be forced to financially and bureaucratically cope with maintaining two voting registers. George Gallup also mentions the cost of registration in his article showing percentages favoring or opposing the amendment, and he draws particular attention to the lower rates of support among adults aged 30–49 and over 50 (57% and 52% respectively) as opposed to those aged 18–20 and 21–29 (84% and 73% respectively).
Proposal and ratification
Passage by Congress
Senator Birch Bayh's subcommittee on constitutional amendments began hearings on extending voting rights to 18-year-olds in 1968.
After Oregon v. Mitchell, Bayh surveyed election officials in 47 states and found that registering an estimated 10 million young people in a separate system for federal elections would cost approximately $20 million. Bayh concluded that most states could not change their state constitutions in time for the 1972 election, mandating national action to avoid "chaos and confusion" at the polls.
On March 2, 1971, Bayh's subcommittee and the House Judiciary Committee approved the proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18 for all elections.
On March 10, 1971, the Senate voted 94–0 in favor of proposing a constitutional amendment to guarantee the minimum voting age could not be higher than 18. On March 23, 1971, the House of Representatives voted 401–19 in favor of the proposed amendment.
| 1971 U.S. House Twenty-sixth Amendment vote: | Party | Total votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | ||
| Yea | 236 | 165 | 401 (92.6%) |
| Nay | 7 | 12 | 19 (4.4%) |
| Not Voting | 9 | 3 | 12 (2.8%) |
| Vacant | 2 | ||
| Result: Adopted | |||
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2021) |
| Roll call votes on the 26th Amendment | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Representative | Seat | Vote | |
| Jack Edwards | AL-1 | Yea | |
| William Louis Dickinson | AL-2 | Yea | |
| George W. Andrews | AL-3 | Yea | |
| Bill Nichols | AL-4 | Yea | |
| Walter Flowers | AL-5 | Yea | |
| John Hall Buchanan Jr. | AL-6 | Yea | |
| Tom Bevill | AL-7 | Yea | |
| Robert E. Jones Jr. | AL-8 | Yea | |
| Nick Begich | AK at-large | Yea | |
| John Jacob Rhodes | AZ-1 | Yea | |
| Mo Udall | AZ-2 | Yea | |
| Sam Steiger | AZ-3 | Nay | |
| William Vollie Alexander Jr. | AR-1 | Yea | |
| Wilbur Mills | AR-2 | Yea | |
| John Paul Hammerschmidt | AR-3 | Yea | |
| David Pryor | AR-4 | Yea | |
| Donald H. Clausen | CA-1 | Yea | |
| Harold T. Johnson | CA-2 | Yea | |
| John E. Moss | CA-3 | Yea | |
| Robert Leggett | CA-4 | Yea | |
| Phillip Burton | CA-5 | Yea | |
| William S. Mailliard | CA-6 | Yea | |
| Ron Dellums | CA-7 | Yea | |
| George P. Miller | CA-8 | Yea | |
| Don Edwards | CA-9 | Yea | |
| Charles Gubser | CA-10 | Yea | |
| Pete McCloskey | CA-11 | Yea | |
| Burt Talcott | CA-12 | Yea | |
| Charles M. Teague | CA-13 | Yea | |
| Jerome Waldie | CA-14 | Yea | |
| John J. McFall | CA-15 | Yea | |
| B.F. Sisk | CA-16 | Yea | |
| Glenn M. Anderson | CA-17 | Yea | |
| Bob Mathias | CA-18 | Yea | |
| Chester E. Holifield | CA-19 | Yea | |
| H. Allen Smith | CA-20 | Yea | |
| Augustus Hawkins | CA-21 | Yea | |
| James C. Corman | CA-22 | Yea | |
| Del M. Clawson | CA-23 | Nay | |
| John H. Rousselot | CA-24 | Nay | |
| Charles E. Wiggins | CA-25 | Nay | |
| Thomas M. Rees | CA-26 | Yea | |
| Barry Goldwater, Jr. | CA-27 | Nay | |
| Alphonzo E. Bell Jr. | CA-28 | Yea | |
| Edward R. Roybal | CA-30 | Yea | |
| Charles H. Wilson | CA-31 | Yea | |
| Craig Hosmer | CA-32 | Yea | |
| Jerry Pettis | CA-33 | Yea | |
| Richard T. Hanna | CA-34 | Not voting | |
| John G. Schmitz | CA-35 | Nay | |
| Bob Wilson | CA-36 | Yea | |
| Lionel Van Deerlin | CA-37 | Yea | |
| Victor Veysey | CA-38 | Yea | |
| Mike McKevitt | CO-1 | Yea | |
| Donald G. Brotzman | CO-2 | Yea | |
| Frank Evans | CO-3 | Yea | |
| Wayne N. Aspinall | CO-4 | Yea | |
| William R. Cotter | CT-1 | Yea | |
| Robert H. Steele | CT-2 | Yea | |
| Robert Giaimo | CT-3 | Yea | |
| Stewart McKinney | CT-4 | Yea | |
| John S. Monagan | CT-5 | Yea | |
| Ella Grasso | CT-6 | Yea | |
| Pete du Pont | DE at-large | Yea | |
| Bob Sikes | FL-1 | Yea | |
| Don Fuqua | FL-2 | Yea | |
| Charles E. Bennett | FL-3 | Yea | |
| Bill Chappell | FL-4 | Yea | |
| Louis Frey, Jr. | FL-5 | Yea | |
| Sam Gibbons | FL-6 | Yea | |
| James A. Haley | FL-7 | Yea | |
| Bill Young | FL-8 | Yea | |
| Paul Rogers | FL-9 | Yea | |
| J. Herbert Burke | FL-10 | Yea | |
| Claude Pepper | FL-11 | Yea | |
| Dante Fascell | FL-12 | Yea | |
| George Elliot Hagan | GA-1 | Yea | |
| Dawson Mathis | GA-2 | Yea | |
| Jack Brinkley | GA-3 | Yea | |
| Benjamin B. Blackburn | GA-4 | Yea | |
| Fletcher Thompson | GA-5 | Yea | |
| John Flynt | GA-6 | Yea | |
| John W. Davis | GA-7 | Yea | |
| W. S. Stuckey, Jr. | GA-8 | Yea | |
| Phillip M. Landrum | GA-9 | Yea | |
| Robert Grier Stephens, Jr. | GA-10 | Yea | |
| Spark Matsunaga | HI-1 | Yea | |
| Patsy Mink | HI-2 | Not voting | |
| James A. McClure | ID-1 | Yea | |
| Orval H. Hansen | ID-2 | Yea | |
| Ralph Metcalfe | IL-3 | Yea | |
| Abner J. Mikva | IL-2 | Yea | |
| Morgan F. Murphy | IL-1 | Yea | |
| Ed Derwinski | IL-4 | Yea | |
| John C. Kluczynski | IL-5 | Yea | |
| George W. Collins | IL-6 | Yea | |
| Frank Annunzio | IL-7 | Yea | |
| Dan Rostenkowski | IL-8 | Yea | |
| Sidney R. Yates | IL-9 | Yea | |
| Harold R. Collier | IL-10 | Yea | |
| Roman Pucinski | IL-11 | Yea | |
| Robert McClory | IL-12 | Yea | |
| Phil Crane | IL-13 | Yea | |
| John N. Erlenborn | IL-14 | Yea | |
| Charlotte Thompson | IL-15 | Yea | |
| John B. Anderson | IL-16 | Yea | |
| Leslie C. Arends | IL-17 | Yea | |
| Robert H. Michel | IL-18 | Nay | |
| Tom Railsback | IL-19 | Yea | |
| Paul Findley | IL-20 | Yea | |
| Kenneth J. Gray | IL-21 | Yea | |
| William L. Springer | IL-22 | Yea | |
| George E. Shipley | IL-23 | Yea | |
| Melvin Price | IL-24 | Yea | |
| Ray Madden | IN-1 | Yea | |
| Earl Landgrebe | IN-2 | Not voting | |
| John Brademas | IN-3 | Yea | |
| J. Edward Roush | IN-4 | Yea | |
| Elwood Hillis | IN-5 | Yea | |
| William G. Bray | IN-6 | Yea | |
| John T. Myers | IN-7 | Yea | |
| Roger H. Zion | IN-8 | Yea | |
| Lee H. Hamilton | IN-9 | Yea | |
| David W. Dennis | IN-10 | Yea | |
| Andrew Jacobs, Jr. | IN-11 | Yea | |
| Fred Schwengel | IA-1 | Yea | |
| John Culver | IA-2 | Yea | |
| H. R. Gross | IA-3 | Nay | |
| John Henry Kyl | IA-4 | Yea | |
| Neal Edward Smith | IA-5 | Yea | |
| Wiley Mayne | IA-6 | Nay | |
| William J. Scherle | IA-7 | Yea | |
| Keith Sebelius | KS-1 | Yea | |
| William R. Roy | KS-2 | Yea | |
| Larry Winn | KS-3 | Yea | |
| Garner E. Shriver | KS-4 | Yea | |
| Joe Skubitz | KS-5 | Yea | |
| Frank Stubblefield | KY-1 | Yea | |
| William Natcher | KY-2 | Yea | |
| Romano Mazzoli | KY-3 | Yea | |
| Gene Snyder | KY-4 | Yea | |
| Tim Lee Carter | KY-5 | Yea | |
| John C. Watts | KY-6 | Yea | |
| Carl D. Perkins | KY-7 | Yea | |
| F. Edward Hébert | LA-1 | Nay | |
| Hale Boggs | LA-2 | Yea | |
| Patrick T. Caffery | LA-3 | Yea | |
| Joe Waggoner | LA-4 | Yea | |
| Otto Passman | LA-5 | Yea | |
| John Rarick | LA-6 | Nay | |
| Edwin Edwards | LA-7 | Not voting | |
| Speedy Long | LA-8 | Yea | |
| Peter Kyros | ME-1 | Yea | |
| William Hathaway | ME-2 | Yea | |
| Vacant | MD-1 | ||
| Clarence Long | MD-2 | Yea | |
| Edward Garmatz | MD-3 | Yea | |
| Paul Sarbanes | MD-4 | Yea | |
| Lawrence Hogan | MD-5 | Yea | |
| Goodloe Byron | MD-6 | Yea | |
| Parren Mitchell | MD-7 | Yea | |
| Gilbert Gude | MD-8 | Yea | |
| Silvio O. Conte | MA-1 | Yea | |
| Edward Boland | MA-2 | Yea | |
| Robert Drinan | MA-3 | Yea | |
| Harold Donohue | MA-4 | Yea | |
| F. Bradford Morse | MA-5 | Yea | |
| Michael J. Harrington | MA-6 | Yea | |
| Torbert Macdonald | MA-7 | Yea | |
| Tip O'Neill | MA-8 | Yea | |
| Louise Day Hicks | MA-9 | Yea | |
| Margaret Heckler | MA-10 | Yea | |
| James A. Burke | MA-11 | Yea | |
| Hastings Keith | MA-12 | Yea | |
| John Conyers | MI-1 | Yea | |
| Marvin L. Esch | MI-2 | Yea | |
| Garry E. Brown | MI-3 | Yea | |
| J. Edward Hutchinson | MI-4 | Nay | |
| Gerald Ford | MI-5 | Yea | |
| Charles E. Chamberlain | MI-6 | Yea | |
| Donald Riegle | MI-7 | Yea | |
| R. James Harvey | MI-8 | Yea | |
| Guy Vander Jagt | MI-9 | Yea | |
| Elford Albin Cederberg | MI-10 | Yea | |
| Philip Ruppe | MI-11 | Yea | |
| James G. O'Hara | MI-12 | Yea | |
| Charles Diggs | MI-13 | Yea | |
| Lucien Nedzi | MI-14 | Yea | |
| William D. Ford | MI-15 | Yea | |
| John Dingell | MI-16 | Yea | |
| Martha Griffiths | MI-17 | Yea | |
| William Broomfield | MI-18 | Yea | |
| Jack H. McDonald | MI-19 | Yea | |
| Al Quie | MN-1 | Yea | |
| Ancher Nelsen | MN-2 | Yea | |
| Bill Frenzel | MN-3 | Yea | |
| Joseph Karth | MN-4 | Yea | |
| Donald M. Fraser | MN-5 | Yea | |
| John M. Zwach | MN-6 | Yea | |
| Robert Bergland | MN-7 | Yea | |
| John Blatnik | MN-8 | Yea | |
| Thomas Abernethy | MS-1 | Yea | |
| Jamie Whitten | MS-2 | Yea | |
| Charles H. Griffin | MS-3 | Yea | |
| Sonny Montgomery | MS-4 | Yea | |
| William M. Colmer | MS-5 | Yea | |
| William Clay, Sr. | MO-1 | Not voting | |
| James W. Symington | MO-2 | Yea | |
| Leonor Sullivan | MO-3 | Yea | |
| William J. Randall | MO-4 | Yea | |
| Richard Walker Bolling | MO-5 | Yea | |
| William Raleigh Hull, Jr. | MO-6 | Yea | |
| Durward Gorham Hall | MO-7 | Nay | |
| Richard Howard Ichord, Jr. | MO-8 | Yea | |
| William L. Hungate | MO-9 | Yea | |
| Bill Burlison | MO-10 | Yea | |
| Richard G. Shoup | MT-1 | Yea | |
| John Melcher | MT-2 | Yea | |
| Charles Thone | NE-1 | Yea | |
| John Y. McCollister | NE-2 | Yea | |
| David Martin | NE-3 | Yea | |
| Walter S. Baring, Jr. | NV at-large | Yea | |
| Louis C. Wyman | NH-1 | Yea | |
| James Colgate Cleveland | NH-2 | Yea | |
| John E. Hunt | NJ-1 | Yea | |
| Charles W. Sandman, Jr. | NJ-2 | Yea | |
| James J. Howard | NJ-3 | Yea | |
| Frank Thompson | NJ-4 | Yea | |
| Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr. | NJ-5 | Yea | |
| Edwin B. Forsythe | NJ-6 | Yea | |
| William B. Widnall | NJ-7 | Yea | |
| Robert A. Roe | NJ-8 | Yea | |
| Henry Helstoski | NJ-9 | Yea | |
| Peter W. Rodino | NJ-10 | Yea | |
| Joseph Minish | NJ-11 | Yea | |
| Florence P. Dwyer | NJ-12 | Yea | |
| Cornelius Gallagher | NJ-13 | Yea | |
| Dominick V. Daniels | NJ-14 | Yea | |
| Edward J. Patten | NJ-15 | Yea | |
| Manuel Lujan, Jr. | NM-1 | Yea | |
| Harold L. Runnels | NM-2 | Yea | |
| Otis G. Pike | NY-1 | Yea | |
| James R. Grover, Jr. | NY-2 | Yea | |
| Lester L. Wolff | NY-3 | Yea | |
| John W. Wydler | NY-4 | Yea | |
| Norman F. Lent | NY-5 | Yea | |
| Seymour Halpern | NY-6 | Yea | |
| Joseph P. Addabbo | NY-7 | Yea | |
| Benjamin Stanley Rosenthal | NY-8 | Yea | |
| James J. Delaney | NY-9 | Yea | |
| Emanuel Celler | NY-10 | Yea | |
| Frank J. Brasco | NY-11 | Yea | |
| Shirley Chisholm | NY-12 | Yea | |
| Bertram L. Podell | NY-13 | Yea | |
| John J. Rooney | NY-14 | Not voting | |
| Hugh Carey | NY-15 | Yea | |
| John M. Murphy | NY-16 | Yea | |
| Ed Koch | NY-17 | Yea | |
| Charles Rangel | NY-18 | Yea | |
| Bella Abzug | NY-19 | Yea | |
| William Fitts Ryan | NY-20 | Yea | |
| James H. Scheuer | NY-21 | Yea | |
| Herman Badillo | NY-22 | Yea | |
| Jonathan Brewster Bingham | NY-23 | Yea | |
| Mario Biaggi | NY-24 | Yea | |
| Peter A. Peyser | NY-25 | Yea | |
| Ogden Reid | NY-26 | Yea | |
| John G. Dow | NY-27 | Yea | |
| Hamilton Fish IV | NY-28 | Yea | |
| Samuel S. Stratton | NY-29 | Yea | |
| Carleton J. King | NY-30 | Yea | |
| Robert C. McEwen | NY-31 | Yea | |
| Alexander Pirnie | NY-32 | Yea | |
| Howard W. Robison | NY-33 | Yea | |
| John H. Terry | NY-34 | Yea | |
| James M. Hanley | NY-35 | Yea | |
| Frank Horton | NY-36 | Yea | |
| Barber Conable | NY-37 | Yea | |
| James F. Hastings | NY-38 | Yea | |
| Jack Kemp | NY-39 | Yea | |
| Henry P. Smith III | NY-40 | Yea | |
| Thaddeus J. Dulski | NY-41 | Yea | |
| Walter B. Jones, Sr. | NC-1 | Yea | |
| Lawrence H. Fountain | NC-2 | Yea | |
| David N. Henderson | NC-3 | Yea | |
| Nick Galifianakis | NC-4 | Yea | |
| Wilmer Mizell | NC-5 | Yea | |
| L. Richardson Preyer | NC-6 | Yea | |
| Alton Lennon | NC-7 | Yea | |
| Earl B. Ruth | NC-8 | Yea | |
| Charles R. Jonas | NC-9 | Yea | |
| Jim Broyhill | NC-10 | Yea | |
| Roy A. Taylor | NC-11 | Yea | |
| Mark Andrews | ND-1 | Yea | |
| Arthur A. Link | ND-2 | Yea | |
| William J. Keating | OH-1 | Yea | |
| Donald D. Clancy | OH-2 | Yea | |
| Charles W. Whalen, Jr. | OH-3 | Yea | |
| William Moore McCulloch | OH-4 | Not voting | |
| Del Latta | OH-5 | Yea | |
| Bill Harsha | OH-6 | Yea | |
| Bud Brown | OH-7 | Yea | |
| Jackson Edward Betts | OH-8 | Yea | |
| Thomas L. Ashley | OH-9 | Yea | |
| Clarence E. Miller | OH-10 | Yea | |
| J. William Stanton | OH-11 | Yea | |
| Samuel L. Devine | OH-12 | Yea | |
| Charles Adams Mosher | OH-13 | Yea | |
| John F. Seiberling | OH-14 | Yea | |
| Chalmers Wylie | OH-15 | Yea | |
| Frank T. Bow | OH-16 | Yea | |
| John M. Ashbrook | OH-17 | Yea | |
| Wayne Hays | OH-18 | Yea | |
| Charles J. Carney | OH-19 | Yea | |
| James V. Stanton | OH-20 | Yea | |
| Louis Stokes | OH-21 | Yea | |
| Charles Vanik | OH-22 | Yea | |
| William Edwin Minshall, Jr. | OH-23 | Yea | |
| Walter E. Powell | OH-24 | Yea | |
| Page Belcher | OK-1 | Yea | |
| Ed Edmondson | OK-2 | Yea | |
| Carl Albert | OK-3 | Yea | |
| Tom Steed | OK-4 | Yea | |
| John Jarman | OK-5 | Yea | |
| John Newbold Camp | OK-6 | Yea | |
| Wendell Wyatt | OR-1 | Nay | |
| Al Ullman | OR-2 | Yea | |
| Edith Green | OR-3 | Nay | |
| John R. Dellenback | OR-4 | Yea | |
| William A. Barrett | PA-1 | Yea | |
| Robert N. C. Nix, Sr. | PA-2 | Yea | |
| James A. Byrne | PA-3 | Yea | |
| Joshua Eilberg | PA-4 | Yea | |
| William J. Green III | PA-5 | Not voting | |
| Gus Yatron | PA-6 | Yea | |
| Lawrence G. Williams | PA-7 | Yea | |
| Edward G. Biester, Jr. | PA-8 | Yea | |
| John H. Ware III | PA-9 | Yea | |
| Joseph M. McDade | PA-10 | Yea | |
| Daniel Flood | PA-11 | Yea | |
| J. Irving Whalley | PA-12 | Yea | |
| Lawrence Coughlin | PA-13 | Yea | |
| William S. Moorhead | PA-14 | Yea | |
| Fred B. Rooney | PA-15 | Yea | |
| Edwin D. Eshleman | PA-16 | Yea | |
| Herman T. Schneebeli | PA-17 | Yea | |
| Robert J. Corbett | PA-18 | Not voting | |
| George A. Goodling | PA-19 | Yea | |
| Joseph M. Gaydos | PA-20 | Yea | |
| John Herman Dent | PA-21 | Not voting | |
| John P. Saylor | PA-22 | Yea | |
| Albert W. Johnson | PA-23 | Yea | |
| Joseph P. Vigorito | PA-24 | Yea | |
| Frank M. Clark | PA-25 | Yea | |
| Thomas E. Morgan | PA-26 | Yea | |
| James G. Fulton | PA-27 | Yea | |
| Fernand St. Germain | RI-1 | Yea | |
| Robert Tiernan | RI-2 | Yea | |
| Vacant | SC-1 | ||
| Floyd Spence | SC-2 | Yea | |
| William Jennings Bryan Dorn | SC-3 | Yea | |
| fJames Mann | SC-4 | Yea | |
| Thomas S. Gettys | SC-5 | Nay | |
| John L. McMillan | SC-6 | Yea | |
| Frank E. Denholm | SD-1 | Yea | |
| James Abourezk | SD-2 | Yea | |
| Jimmy Quillen | TN-1 | Yea | |
| John Duncan, Sr. | TN-2 | Yea | |
| LaMar Baker | TN-3 | Yea | |
| Joe L. Evins | TN-4 | Yea | |
| Richard Fulton | TN-5 | Yea | |
| William Anderson (naval officer) | TN-6 | Yea | |
| Ray Blanton | TN-7 | Yea | |
| Ed Jones (Tennessee politician) | TN-8 | Yea | |
| Dan Kuykendall | TN-9 | Yea | |
| Wright Patman | TX-1 | Yea | |
| John Dowdy | TX-2 | Not voting | |
| James M. Collins | TX-3 | Yea | |
| Ray Roberts | TX-4 | Not voting | |
| Earle Cabell | TX-5 | Yea | |
| Olin E. Teague | TX-6 | Yea | |
| Bill Archer | TX-7 | Yea | |
| Robert C. Eckhardt | TX-8 | Yea | |
| Jack Bascom Brooks | TX-9 | Yea | |
| J. J. Pickle | TX-10 | Yea | |
| William R. Poage | TX-11 | Nay | |
| Jim Wright | TX-12 | Yea | |
| Graham B. Purcell, Jr. | TX-13 | Yea | |
| John Andrew Young | TX-14 | Yea | |
| Kika de la Garza | TX-15 | Yea | |
| Richard Crawford White | TX-16 | Yea | |
| Omar Burleson | TX-17 | Nay | |
| Robert Dale Price | TX-18 | Yea | |
| George H. Mahon | TX-19 | Yea | |
| Henry B. González | TX-20 | Yea | |
| O. C. Fisher | TX-21 | Nay | |
| Robert R. Casey | TX-22 | Yea | |
| Abraham Kazen | TX-23 | Yea | |
| K. Gunn McKay | UT-1 | Yea | |
| Sherman P. Lloyd | UT-2 | Yea | |
| Robert T. Stafford | VT at-large | Yea | |
| Thomas Pelly | WA-1 | Yea | |
| Lloyd Meeds | WA-2 | Yea | |
| Julia Butler Hansen | WA-3 | Yea | |
| Mike McCormack | WA-4 | Yea | |
| Tom Foley | WA-5 | Yea | |
| Floyd Hicks | WA-6 | Yea | |
| Brock Adams | WA-7 | Yea | |
| Bob Mollohan | WV-1 | Yea | |
| Harley Orrin Staggers | WV-2 | Yea | |
| John M. Slack, Jr. | WV-3 | Yea | |
| Ken Hechler | WV-4 | Yea | |
| James Kee | WV-5 | Yea | |
| Les Aspin | WI-1 | Yea | |
| Robert Kastenmeier | WI-2 | Yea | |
| Vernon Wallace Thomson | WI-3 | Yea | |
| Clement J. Zablocki | WI-4 | Yea | |
| Henry S. Reuss | WI-5 | Yea | |
| William A. Steiger | WI-6 | Yea | |
| Dave Obey | WI-7 | Yea | |
| John W. Byrnes | WI-8 | Yea | |
| Glenn Robert Davis | WI-9 | Yea | |
| Alvin O'Konski | WI-10 | Yea | |
| Teno Roncalio | WY at-large | Yea | |
Ratification by the states
Having been passed by the 92nd United States Congress, the proposed Twenty-sixth Amendment was sent to the state legislatures for their consideration. Which state was the first to officially ratify the amendment was a matter of dispute: the Minnesota legislature approved the amendment at 3:14 p.m. CST (4:14 p.m. EST), minutes before U.S. Senate president pro tempore Allen J. Ellender officially approved the federal law at approximately 4:35 or 4:40 pm. EST. Legislators in Delaware, which ratified the amendment at 4:51 pm, argued that Minnesota's ratification was invalid because the amendment had not yet been sent to the states. The U.S. Senate parliamentarian ruled that Minnesota acted prematurely, but the legality of its ratification of the amendment was never officially challenged.
Ratification was completed on June 30, 1971, after the amendment had been ratified by thirty-eight states. Which state was the 38th to ratify and thus put the amendment into effect has also been disputed. Contemporaneous reports agree that Ohio's House of Representatives cast the decisive vote on the evening of June 30, and that Alabama and North Carolina had ratified the amendment earlier in the day. As of 2013, however, the Government Printing Office states that North Carolina did not complete its ratification of the amendment until July 1, at which time it became the 38th state to ratify. Additionally, Alabama governor George Wallace claimed that his state was the 38th to ratify, because he did not sign the ratification resolution until after North Carolina and Ohio completed their ratifications; however, the approval of the governor is not required to ratify an amendment.
- Minnesota: March 23, 1971 (4:14 p.m. EST)
- Delaware: March 23, 1971 (4:51 p.m. EST)
- Tennessee: March 23, 1971 (5:10 p.m. EST)
- Washington: March 23, 1971 (5:42 p.m. EST)
- Connecticut: March 23, 1971 (5:53 p.m. EST)
- Hawaii: March 24, 1971
- Massachusetts: March 24, 1971
- Montana: March 29, 1971
- Arkansas: March 30, 1971
- Idaho: March 30, 1971
- Iowa: March 30, 1971
- Nebraska: April 2, 1971
- New Jersey: April 3, 1971
- Kansas: April 7, 1971
- Michigan: April 7, 1971
- Alaska: April 8, 1971
- Maryland: April 8, 1971
- Indiana: April 8, 1971
- Maine: April 9, 1971
- Vermont: April 16, 1971
- Louisiana: April 17, 1971
- California: April 19, 1971
- Colorado: April 27, 1971
- Pennsylvania: April 27, 1971
- Texas: April 27, 1971
- South Carolina: April 28, 1971
- West Virginia: April 28, 1971
- New Hampshire: May 13, 1971
- Arizona: May 14, 1971
- Rhode Island: May 27, 1971
- New York: June 2, 1971
- Oregon: June 4, 1971
- Missouri: June 14, 1971
- Wisconsin: June 22, 1971
- Illinois: June 29, 1971
- Alabama: June 30, 1971
- North Carolina: June 30, 1971
- Ohio: June 30, 1971
Having been ratified by three-fourths of the States (38), the Twenty-sixth Amendment became part of the Constitution. On July 5, 1971, the Administrator of General Services, Robert Kunzig, certified its adoption. President Nixon and Julianne Jones, Joseph W. Loyd Jr., and Paul S. Larimer of the "Young Americans in Concert" also signed the certificate as witnesses. During the signing ceremony, held in the East Room of the White House, Nixon talked about his confidence in the youth of America:
As I meet with this group today, I sense that we can have confidence that America's new voters, America's young generation, will provide what America needs as we approach our bicentennial, not just strength and not just wealth but the 'Spirit of '76' a spirit of moral courage, a spirit of high idealism in which we believe in the American dream, but in which we realize that the American dream can never be fulfilled until every American has an equal chance to fulfill it in their own life.
The amendment was subsequently ratified by 5 more states, bringing the total number of ratifying states to 43:
- 39. Oklahoma: July 1, 1971
- 40. Virginia: July 8, 1971
- 41. Wyoming: July 8, 1971
- 42. Georgia: October 4, 1971
- 43. South Dakota: March 4, 2014
No action has been taken on the amendment by the states of Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah.
See also
- Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1870, extending vote rights to non-white men)
- Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1920, extending vote rights to women)
- Representation of the People Act 1969 (legislation in the United Kingdom with equivalent effect)
References
- "The 26th Amendment". History. November 27, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- ""Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote": The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment". The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. October 28, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- United States Government Printing Office. "Reduction of Voting Age: Twenty-Sixth Amendment" (PDF).
- Vaughn, Vanessa E. DOMESTIC AFFAIRS: Twenty-Sixth Amendment. Defining Documents: The 1970s. pp. 145–147.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - Neale, Thomas H., "Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 35.
- Neale, Thomas H., "Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 36–37.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Public Papers of the Presidents, January 7, 1954, p. 22.
- University of California–Santa Barbara, The American Presidency Project, "Commencement Address at Texas Christian University".
- Neale, Thomas H., "Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 38.
- de Schweinitz, Rebecca (May 22, 2015), "The Proper Age for Suffrage", Age in America, NYU Press, pp. 209–236, doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479870011.003.0011, ISBN 978-1-4798-7001-1
- De Schweinitz, Rebecca (2009). If we could change the world: young people and America's long struggle for racial equality. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3235-6. OCLC 963537002.
- Kennedy, Edward M., "The Time Has Come to Let Young People Vote", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 56–64.
- University of California, Santa Barbara. "Statement on Signing the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970". presidency.ucsb.edu.
- Richard Nixon, Public Papers of the Presidents, June 22, 1970, p. 512.
- Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2006). "Majority Rules: Oregon v. Mitchell (1970)". PBS.
- 18 for Georgia and Kentucky, 19 for Alaska and 20 for Hawaii
- Neale, Thomas H. The Eighteen Year Old Vote: The Twenty-Sixth Amendment and Subsequent Voting Rates of Newly Enfranchised Age Groups. 1983.
- "Oregon v. Mitchell". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
- Graham, Fred P., in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 67.
- Nixon, Richard, "Changing the Voting age will Require a Constitutional Amendment", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 70–77.
- Tokaji, Daniel P. (2006). "Intent and Its Alternatives: Defending the New Voting Rights Act" (PDF). Alabama Law Review. 58: 353. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970), pp. 188–121
- "Making Civics Real: Workshop 2: Essential Readings". Annenberg Learner. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- Carleton, William G., "Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 47.
- Carleton, William G., "Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 48–49.
- Carleton, William G., "Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), p. 49.
- Carleton, William G., "Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 50–51.
- Kilpatrick, James J., "The States are being Extorted into Ratifying the Twenty-sixth Amendment", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 123–127.
- Gallup, George, "The Majority of Americans Favor the Twenty-sixth Amendment", in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age, ed. Engdahl, Sylvia (New York: Greenhaven Press, 2010), pp. 128–130.
- Graham, Fred P. (May 15, 1968). "Voting Age of 18 Is Supported By Four Senators at a Hearing". The New York Times. p. 23.
- Sperling, Godfrey Jr. (February 13, 1971). "Bayh peers into dual-voting thicket: Fraud possibilities weighed 'Intolerable burden'". The Christian Science Monitor.
- MacKenzie, John P. (February 13, 1971). "Bayh Favors Amendment To End Vote-at-18 'Chaos'". The Washington Post. pp. A2.
- "Amendment on Vote at 18 Gains a Step". The Chicago Tribune. United Press International. March 3, 1971. pp. C1.
- Senate, Journal of the Senate, 92nd Congress, 1st session, 1971. S. S.J. Res. 7
- "House Gets 18-Vote After Senate OKs It". The Evening Press (Binghamton, New York). Associated Press. March 11, 1971. p. 12.
- House, Journal of the House, 92nd Congress, 1st session, 1971. H. S.J. Res. 7
- Milutin Tomanović, ed. (1972). Hronika međunarodnih događaja 1971 [The Chronicle of International Events in 1971] (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Institute of International Politics and Economics. p. 2608.
- "House of Representatives Vote On 26th Amendment". March 23, 1971. Archived from the original on January 20, 2020.
- Schamdeke, John, and Jack Nolan. "18-year-old vote passes House, is sent to states", Wilmington Morning News, March 24, 1971, pages 1 and 2.
- "State Ratifies Vote Amendment", Minneapolis Tribune, March 24, 1971, page 14A.
- "State Cries 'Foul' In Ratifying Race", Wilmington Evening Journal, March 24, 1971, pages 1 and 2.
- Wheat, Warren. "18-Year-Old Vote In - Ohio Does It, Cincinnati Enquirer, July 1, 1971, front page.
- "18-Year-Old Vote Now Law; N.C., Ohio Ratify Amendment", Charlotte Observer, July 1, 1971, pages 1A and 2A.
- "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, Centennial Edition, Interim Edition: Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 26, 2013" (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2013. p. 44. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "Wallace says Alabama was key to ballot", , July 2, 1971, front page.
- Morse, Charles F. J. "Legislature Ratifies 18-Year-Old Vote", Hartford Courant, March 24, 1971, pages 1 and 2.
- "Remarks at a Ceremony Marking the Certification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution". The American Presidency Project. University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
- "Senate Joint Resolution 1". South Dakota Legislature. Pierre, South Dakota: SD Legislative Research Council. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
Further reading
- Caplan, Sheri J. Old Enough: How 18-Year-Olds Won the Vote & Why it Matters. Heath Hen, 2020. ISBN 978-1-7354-9300-8.
External links
- CRS Annotated Constitution: Twenty-sixth Amendment
- Eric Fish, The Twenty-sixth Amendment Enforcement Power
Author: www.NiNa.Az
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The Twenty sixth Amendment Amendment XXVI to the United States Constitution establishes a nationally standardized minimum age of 18 for participation in state and federal elections It was proposed by Congress on March 23 1971 and three fourths of the states ratified it by July 1 1971 Various public officials had supported lowering the voting age during the mid 20th century but were unable to gain the legislative momentum necessary for passing a constitutional amendment The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew across the country during the 1960 s and was driven in part by the military draft held during the Vietnam War The draft conscripted young men between the ages of 18 and 21 into the United States Armed Forces primarily the U S Army to serve in or support military combat operations in Vietnam This means young men could be required to fight and possibly die for their nation in wartime at 18 However these same citizens could not have a legal say in the government s decision to wage that war until the age of 21 A youth rights movement emerged in response calling for a similarly reduced voting age A common slogan of proponents of lowering the voting age was old enough to fight old enough to vote Determined to get around inaction on the issue congressional allies included a provision for the 18 year old vote in a 1970 bill that extended the Voting Rights Act The Supreme Court subsequently held in the case of Oregon v Mitchell that Congress could not lower the voting age for state and local elections Recognizing the confusion and costs that would be involved in maintaining separate voting rolls and elections for federal and state contests Congress quickly proposed and the states ratified the Twenty sixth Amendment TextSection 1 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 Section 2 The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation BackgroundThe framers of the U S Constitution did not establish specific criteria for national citizenship or voting qualifications in state or federal elections Before the Twenty sixth Amendment states had the authority to set their own minimum voting ages which was typically 21 as the national standard Senator Harley Kilgore began advocating for a lowered voting age in 1941 in the 77th Congress Despite the support of fellow senators representatives and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt Congress failed to pass any national change However public interest in lowering the voting age became a topic of interest at the local level In 1943 and 1955 respectively the Georgia and Kentucky legislatures approved measures to lower the voting age to 18 President Dwight D Eisenhower in his 1954 State of the Union address became the first president to publicly support prohibiting age based denials of suffrage for those 18 and older During the 1960s both Congress and the state legislatures came under increasing pressure to lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 This was in large part due to the Vietnam War in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted to fight in the war thus lacking any means to influence the people sending them off to risk their lives Old enough to fight old enough to vote was a common slogan used by proponents of lowering the voting age The slogan traced its roots to World War II when President Franklin D Roosevelt lowered the military draft age to 18 In 1963 the President s Commission on Registration and Voting Participation in its report to President Lyndon Johnson encouraged lowering the voting age Johnson proposed an immediate national grant of the right to vote to 18 year olds on May 29 1968 Historian Thomas H Neale argues that the move to lower the voting age followed a historical pattern similar to other extensions of the franchise with the escalation of the war in Vietnam constituents were mobilized and eventually a constitutional amendment passed Those advocating for a lower voting age drew on a range of arguments to promote their cause and scholarship increasingly links the rise of support for a lower voting age to young people s role in the civil rights movement and other movements for social and political change of the 1950s and 1960s Increasing high school graduation rates and young people s access to political information through new technologies also influenced more positive views of their preparation for the most important right of citizenship Between 1942 when public debates about a lower voting age began in earnest and the early 1970s ideas about youth agency increasingly challenged the caretaking model that had previously dominated the nation s approaches to young people s rights Characteristics traditionally associated with youth idealism lack of vested interests and openness to new ideas came to be seen as positive qualities for a political system that seemed to be in crisis In 1970 Senator Ted Kennedy proposed amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age nationally On June 22 1970 President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required the voting age to be 18 in all federal state and local elections In his statement on signing the extension Nixon said Despite my misgivings about the constitutionality of this one provision I have signed the bill I have directed the Attorney General to cooperate fully in expediting a swift court test of the constitutionality of the 18 year old provision Subsequently Oregon and Texas challenged the law in court and the case came before the Supreme Court in 1970 as Oregon v Mitchell By this time four states had a minimum voting age below 21 Georgia Kentucky Alaska and Hawaii Oregon v Mitchell During debate of the 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act Senator Ted Kennedy argued that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment allowed Congress to pass national legislation lowering the voting age In Katzenbach v Morgan 1966 the Supreme Court had ruled that if Congress acted to enforce the 14th Amendment by passing a law declaring that a type of state law discriminates against a certain class of persons the Supreme Court would let the law stand if the justices could perceive a basis for Congress s actions President Nixon disagreed with Kennedy in a letter to the Speaker of the House and the House minority and majority leaders asserting that the issue was not whether the voting age should be lowered but how In his own interpretation of Katzenbach Nixon argued that to include age as a possible parameter of discrimination would overstretch the concept and voiced concerns that the damage of a Supreme Court decision to overturn the Voting Rights Act could be disastrous In Oregon v Mitchell 1970 the Supreme Court considered whether the voting age provisions Congress added to the Voting Rights Act in 1970 were constitutional The Court struck down the provisions that established 18 as the voting age in state and local elections However the Court upheld the provision establishing the voting age as 18 in federal elections The Court was deeply divided in this case and a majority of justices did not agree on a rationale for the holding The decision resulted in states being able to maintain 21 as the voting age in state and local elections but being required to establish separate voter rolls so that voters between 18 and 21 years old could vote in federal elections Opposition Although the Twenty sixth Amendment passed faster than any other constitutional amendment about 17 states refused to pass measures to lower their minimum voting ages after Nixon signed the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act Opponents to extending the vote to youths questioned the maturity and responsibility of people at the age of 18 Representative Emanuel Celler of New York one of the most vocal opponents of a lower voting age from the 1940s through 1970 and Chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee for much of that period insisted that youth lacked the good judgment essential to good citizenship and that the qualities that made youth good soldiers did not also make them good voters Professor William G Carleton wondered why the vote was proposed for youth at a time when the period of adolescence had grown so substantially rather than in the past when people had more responsibilities at earlier ages Carleton further criticized the move to lower the voting age citing American preoccupations with youth in general exaggerated reliance on higher education and equating technological savvy with responsibility and intelligence He denounced the military service argument as well calling it a cliche Considering the ages of soldiers in the Civil War he asserted that literacy and education were not the grounds for limiting voting rather common sense and the capacity to understand the political system grounded voting age restrictions James J Kilpatrick a political columnist asserted that the states were extorted into ratifying the Twenty sixth Amendment In his article he claims that by passing the 1970 extension to the Voting Rights Act Congress effectively forced the States to ratify the amendment lest they be forced to financially and bureaucratically cope with maintaining two voting registers George Gallup also mentions the cost of registration in his article showing percentages favoring or opposing the amendment and he draws particular attention to the lower rates of support among adults aged 30 49 and over 50 57 and 52 respectively as opposed to those aged 18 20 and 21 29 84 and 73 respectively Proposal and ratificationThe Twenty sixth Amendment in the National Archives Passage by Congress Senator Birch Bayh s subcommittee on constitutional amendments began hearings on extending voting rights to 18 year olds in 1968 After Oregon v Mitchell Bayh surveyed election officials in 47 states and found that registering an estimated 10 million young people in a separate system for federal elections would cost approximately 20 million Bayh concluded that most states could not change their state constitutions in time for the 1972 election mandating national action to avoid chaos and confusion at the polls On March 2 1971 Bayh s subcommittee and the House Judiciary Committee approved the proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18 for all elections On March 10 1971 the Senate voted 94 0 in favor of proposing a constitutional amendment to guarantee the minimum voting age could not be higher than 18 On March 23 1971 the House of Representatives voted 401 19 in favor of the proposed amendment 1971 U S House Twenty sixth Amendment vote Party Total votes Democratic Republican Yea 236 165 401 92 6 Nay 7 12 19 4 4 Not Voting 9 3 12 2 8 Vacant 2 Result Adopted Vote By MembersThis list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items December 2021 Roll call votes on the 26th Amendment Representative Seat Vote Jack Edwards AL 1 Yea William Louis Dickinson AL 2 Yea George W Andrews AL 3 Yea Bill Nichols AL 4 Yea Walter Flowers AL 5 Yea John Hall Buchanan Jr AL 6 Yea Tom Bevill AL 7 Yea Robert E Jones Jr AL 8 Yea Nick Begich AK at large Yea John Jacob Rhodes AZ 1 Yea Mo Udall AZ 2 Yea Sam Steiger AZ 3 Nay William Vollie Alexander Jr AR 1 Yea Wilbur Mills AR 2 Yea John Paul Hammerschmidt AR 3 Yea David Pryor AR 4 Yea Donald H Clausen CA 1 Yea Harold T Johnson CA 2 Yea John E Moss CA 3 Yea Robert Leggett CA 4 Yea Phillip Burton CA 5 Yea William S Mailliard CA 6 Yea Ron Dellums CA 7 Yea George P Miller CA 8 Yea Don Edwards CA 9 Yea Charles Gubser CA 10 Yea Pete McCloskey CA 11 Yea Burt Talcott CA 12 Yea Charles M Teague CA 13 Yea Jerome Waldie CA 14 Yea John J McFall CA 15 Yea B F Sisk CA 16 Yea Glenn M Anderson CA 17 Yea Bob Mathias CA 18 Yea Chester E Holifield CA 19 Yea H Allen Smith CA 20 Yea Augustus Hawkins CA 21 Yea James C Corman CA 22 Yea Del M Clawson CA 23 Nay John H Rousselot CA 24 Nay Charles E Wiggins CA 25 Nay Thomas M Rees CA 26 Yea Barry Goldwater Jr CA 27 Nay Alphonzo E Bell Jr CA 28 Yea Edward R Roybal CA 30 Yea Charles H Wilson CA 31 Yea Craig Hosmer CA 32 Yea Jerry Pettis CA 33 Yea Richard T Hanna CA 34 Not voting John G Schmitz CA 35 Nay Bob Wilson CA 36 Yea Lionel Van Deerlin CA 37 Yea Victor Veysey CA 38 Yea Mike McKevitt CO 1 Yea Donald G Brotzman CO 2 Yea Frank Evans CO 3 Yea Wayne N Aspinall CO 4 Yea William R Cotter CT 1 Yea Robert H Steele CT 2 Yea Robert Giaimo CT 3 Yea Stewart McKinney CT 4 Yea John S Monagan CT 5 Yea Ella Grasso CT 6 Yea Pete du Pont DE at large Yea Bob Sikes FL 1 Yea Don Fuqua FL 2 Yea Charles E Bennett FL 3 Yea Bill Chappell FL 4 Yea Louis Frey Jr FL 5 Yea Sam Gibbons FL 6 Yea James A Haley FL 7 Yea Bill Young FL 8 Yea Paul Rogers FL 9 Yea J Herbert Burke FL 10 Yea Claude Pepper FL 11 Yea Dante Fascell FL 12 Yea George Elliot Hagan GA 1 Yea Dawson Mathis GA 2 Yea Jack Brinkley GA 3 Yea Benjamin B Blackburn GA 4 Yea Fletcher Thompson GA 5 Yea John Flynt GA 6 Yea John W Davis GA 7 Yea W S Stuckey Jr GA 8 Yea Phillip M Landrum GA 9 Yea Robert Grier Stephens Jr GA 10 Yea Spark Matsunaga HI 1 Yea Patsy Mink HI 2 Not voting James A McClure ID 1 Yea Orval H Hansen ID 2 Yea Ralph Metcalfe IL 3 Yea Abner J Mikva IL 2 Yea Morgan F Murphy IL 1 Yea Ed Derwinski IL 4 Yea John C Kluczynski IL 5 Yea George W Collins IL 6 Yea Frank Annunzio IL 7 Yea Dan Rostenkowski IL 8 Yea Sidney R Yates IL 9 Yea Harold R Collier IL 10 Yea Roman Pucinski IL 11 Yea Robert McClory IL 12 Yea Phil Crane IL 13 Yea John N Erlenborn IL 14 Yea Charlotte Thompson IL 15 Yea John B Anderson IL 16 Yea Leslie C Arends IL 17 Yea Robert H Michel IL 18 Nay Tom Railsback IL 19 Yea Paul Findley IL 20 Yea Kenneth J Gray IL 21 Yea William L Springer IL 22 Yea George E Shipley IL 23 Yea Melvin Price IL 24 Yea Ray Madden IN 1 Yea Earl Landgrebe IN 2 Not voting John Brademas IN 3 Yea J Edward Roush IN 4 Yea Elwood Hillis IN 5 Yea William G Bray IN 6 Yea John T Myers IN 7 Yea Roger H Zion IN 8 Yea Lee H Hamilton IN 9 Yea David W Dennis IN 10 Yea Andrew Jacobs Jr IN 11 Yea Fred Schwengel IA 1 Yea John Culver IA 2 Yea H R Gross IA 3 Nay John Henry Kyl IA 4 Yea Neal Edward Smith IA 5 Yea Wiley Mayne IA 6 Nay William J Scherle IA 7 Yea Keith Sebelius KS 1 Yea William R Roy KS 2 Yea Larry Winn KS 3 Yea Garner E Shriver KS 4 Yea Joe Skubitz KS 5 Yea Frank Stubblefield KY 1 Yea William Natcher KY 2 Yea Romano Mazzoli KY 3 Yea Gene Snyder KY 4 Yea Tim Lee Carter KY 5 Yea John C Watts KY 6 Yea Carl D Perkins KY 7 Yea F Edward Hebert LA 1 Nay Hale Boggs LA 2 Yea Patrick T Caffery LA 3 Yea Joe Waggoner LA 4 Yea Otto Passman LA 5 Yea John Rarick LA 6 Nay Edwin Edwards LA 7 Not voting Speedy Long LA 8 Yea Peter Kyros ME 1 Yea William Hathaway ME 2 Yea Vacant MD 1 Clarence Long MD 2 Yea Edward Garmatz MD 3 Yea Paul Sarbanes MD 4 Yea Lawrence Hogan MD 5 Yea Goodloe Byron MD 6 Yea Parren Mitchell MD 7 Yea Gilbert Gude MD 8 Yea Silvio O Conte MA 1 Yea Edward Boland MA 2 Yea Robert Drinan MA 3 Yea Harold Donohue MA 4 Yea F Bradford Morse MA 5 Yea Michael J Harrington MA 6 Yea Torbert Macdonald MA 7 Yea Tip O Neill MA 8 Yea Louise Day Hicks MA 9 Yea Margaret Heckler MA 10 Yea James A Burke MA 11 Yea Hastings Keith MA 12 Yea John Conyers MI 1 Yea Marvin L Esch MI 2 Yea Garry E Brown MI 3 Yea J Edward Hutchinson MI 4 Nay Gerald Ford MI 5 Yea Charles E Chamberlain MI 6 Yea Donald Riegle MI 7 Yea R James Harvey MI 8 Yea Guy Vander Jagt MI 9 Yea Elford Albin Cederberg MI 10 Yea Philip Ruppe MI 11 Yea James G O Hara MI 12 Yea Charles Diggs MI 13 Yea Lucien Nedzi MI 14 Yea William D Ford MI 15 Yea John Dingell MI 16 Yea Martha Griffiths MI 17 Yea William Broomfield MI 18 Yea Jack H McDonald MI 19 Yea Al Quie MN 1 Yea Ancher Nelsen MN 2 Yea Bill Frenzel MN 3 Yea Joseph Karth MN 4 Yea Donald M Fraser MN 5 Yea John M Zwach MN 6 Yea Robert Bergland MN 7 Yea John Blatnik MN 8 Yea Thomas Abernethy MS 1 Yea Jamie Whitten MS 2 Yea Charles H Griffin MS 3 Yea Sonny Montgomery MS 4 Yea William M Colmer MS 5 Yea William Clay Sr MO 1 Not voting James W Symington MO 2 Yea Leonor Sullivan MO 3 Yea William J Randall MO 4 Yea Richard Walker Bolling MO 5 Yea William Raleigh Hull Jr MO 6 Yea Durward Gorham Hall MO 7 Nay Richard Howard Ichord Jr MO 8 Yea William L Hungate MO 9 Yea Bill Burlison MO 10 Yea Richard G Shoup MT 1 Yea John Melcher MT 2 Yea Charles Thone NE 1 Yea John Y McCollister NE 2 Yea David Martin NE 3 Yea Walter S Baring Jr NV at large Yea Louis C Wyman NH 1 Yea James Colgate Cleveland NH 2 Yea John E Hunt NJ 1 Yea Charles W Sandman Jr NJ 2 Yea James J Howard NJ 3 Yea Frank Thompson NJ 4 Yea Peter Frelinghuysen Jr NJ 5 Yea Edwin B Forsythe NJ 6 Yea William B Widnall NJ 7 Yea Robert A Roe NJ 8 Yea Henry Helstoski NJ 9 Yea Peter W Rodino NJ 10 Yea Joseph Minish NJ 11 Yea Florence P Dwyer NJ 12 Yea Cornelius Gallagher NJ 13 Yea Dominick V Daniels NJ 14 Yea Edward J Patten NJ 15 Yea Manuel Lujan Jr NM 1 Yea Harold L Runnels NM 2 Yea Otis G Pike NY 1 Yea James R Grover Jr NY 2 Yea Lester L Wolff NY 3 Yea John W Wydler NY 4 Yea Norman F Lent NY 5 Yea Seymour Halpern NY 6 Yea Joseph P Addabbo NY 7 Yea Benjamin Stanley Rosenthal NY 8 Yea James J Delaney NY 9 Yea Emanuel Celler NY 10 Yea Frank J Brasco NY 11 Yea Shirley Chisholm NY 12 Yea Bertram L Podell NY 13 Yea John J Rooney NY 14 Not voting Hugh Carey NY 15 Yea John M Murphy NY 16 Yea Ed Koch NY 17 Yea Charles Rangel NY 18 Yea Bella Abzug NY 19 Yea William Fitts Ryan NY 20 Yea James H Scheuer NY 21 Yea Herman Badillo NY 22 Yea Jonathan Brewster Bingham NY 23 Yea Mario Biaggi NY 24 Yea Peter A Peyser NY 25 Yea Ogden Reid NY 26 Yea John G Dow NY 27 Yea Hamilton Fish IV NY 28 Yea Samuel S Stratton NY 29 Yea Carleton J King NY 30 Yea Robert C McEwen NY 31 Yea Alexander Pirnie NY 32 Yea Howard W Robison NY 33 Yea John H Terry NY 34 Yea James M Hanley NY 35 Yea Frank Horton NY 36 Yea Barber Conable NY 37 Yea James F Hastings NY 38 Yea Jack Kemp NY 39 Yea Henry P Smith III NY 40 Yea Thaddeus J Dulski NY 41 Yea Walter B Jones Sr NC 1 Yea Lawrence H Fountain NC 2 Yea David N Henderson NC 3 Yea Nick Galifianakis NC 4 Yea Wilmer Mizell NC 5 Yea L Richardson Preyer NC 6 Yea Alton Lennon NC 7 Yea Earl B Ruth NC 8 Yea Charles R Jonas NC 9 Yea Jim Broyhill NC 10 Yea Roy A Taylor NC 11 Yea Mark Andrews ND 1 Yea Arthur A Link ND 2 Yea William J Keating OH 1 Yea Donald D Clancy OH 2 Yea Charles W Whalen Jr OH 3 Yea William Moore McCulloch OH 4 Not voting Del Latta OH 5 Yea Bill Harsha OH 6 Yea Bud Brown OH 7 Yea Jackson Edward Betts OH 8 Yea Thomas L Ashley OH 9 Yea Clarence E Miller OH 10 Yea J William Stanton OH 11 Yea Samuel L Devine OH 12 Yea Charles Adams Mosher OH 13 Yea John F Seiberling OH 14 Yea Chalmers Wylie OH 15 Yea Frank T Bow OH 16 Yea John M Ashbrook OH 17 Yea Wayne Hays OH 18 Yea Charles J Carney OH 19 Yea James V Stanton OH 20 Yea Louis Stokes OH 21 Yea Charles Vanik OH 22 Yea William Edwin Minshall Jr OH 23 Yea Walter E Powell OH 24 Yea Page Belcher OK 1 Yea Ed Edmondson OK 2 Yea Carl Albert OK 3 Yea Tom Steed OK 4 Yea John Jarman OK 5 Yea John Newbold Camp OK 6 Yea Wendell Wyatt OR 1 Nay Al Ullman OR 2 Yea Edith Green OR 3 Nay John R Dellenback OR 4 Yea William A Barrett PA 1 Yea Robert N C Nix Sr PA 2 Yea James A Byrne PA 3 Yea Joshua Eilberg PA 4 Yea William J Green III PA 5 Not voting Gus Yatron PA 6 Yea Lawrence G Williams PA 7 Yea Edward G Biester Jr PA 8 Yea John H Ware III PA 9 Yea Joseph M McDade PA 10 Yea Daniel Flood PA 11 Yea J Irving Whalley PA 12 Yea Lawrence Coughlin PA 13 Yea William S Moorhead PA 14 Yea Fred B Rooney PA 15 Yea Edwin D Eshleman PA 16 Yea Herman T Schneebeli PA 17 Yea Robert J Corbett PA 18 Not voting George A Goodling PA 19 Yea Joseph M Gaydos PA 20 Yea John Herman Dent PA 21 Not voting John P Saylor PA 22 Yea Albert W Johnson PA 23 Yea Joseph P Vigorito PA 24 Yea Frank M Clark PA 25 Yea Thomas E Morgan PA 26 Yea James G Fulton PA 27 Yea Fernand St Germain RI 1 Yea Robert Tiernan RI 2 Yea Vacant SC 1 Floyd Spence SC 2 Yea William Jennings Bryan Dorn SC 3 Yea fJames Mann SC 4 Yea Thomas S Gettys SC 5 Nay John L McMillan SC 6 Yea Frank E Denholm SD 1 Yea James Abourezk SD 2 Yea Jimmy Quillen TN 1 Yea John Duncan Sr TN 2 Yea LaMar Baker TN 3 Yea Joe L Evins TN 4 Yea Richard Fulton TN 5 Yea William Anderson naval officer TN 6 Yea Ray Blanton TN 7 Yea Ed Jones Tennessee politician TN 8 Yea Dan Kuykendall TN 9 Yea Wright Patman TX 1 Yea John Dowdy TX 2 Not voting James M Collins TX 3 Yea Ray Roberts TX 4 Not voting Earle Cabell TX 5 Yea Olin E Teague TX 6 Yea Bill Archer TX 7 Yea Robert C Eckhardt TX 8 Yea Jack Bascom Brooks TX 9 Yea J J Pickle TX 10 Yea William R Poage TX 11 Nay Jim Wright TX 12 Yea Graham B Purcell Jr TX 13 Yea John Andrew Young TX 14 Yea Kika de la Garza TX 15 Yea Richard Crawford White TX 16 Yea Omar Burleson TX 17 Nay Robert Dale Price TX 18 Yea George H Mahon TX 19 Yea Henry B Gonzalez TX 20 Yea O C Fisher TX 21 Nay Robert R Casey TX 22 Yea Abraham Kazen TX 23 Yea K Gunn McKay UT 1 Yea Sherman P Lloyd UT 2 Yea Robert T Stafford VT at large Yea Thomas Pelly WA 1 Yea Lloyd Meeds WA 2 Yea Julia Butler Hansen WA 3 Yea Mike McCormack WA 4 Yea Tom Foley WA 5 Yea Floyd Hicks WA 6 Yea Brock Adams WA 7 Yea Bob Mollohan WV 1 Yea Harley Orrin Staggers WV 2 Yea John M Slack Jr WV 3 Yea Ken Hechler WV 4 Yea James Kee WV 5 Yea Les Aspin WI 1 Yea Robert Kastenmeier WI 2 Yea Vernon Wallace Thomson WI 3 Yea Clement J Zablocki WI 4 Yea Henry S Reuss WI 5 Yea William A Steiger WI 6 Yea Dave Obey WI 7 Yea John W Byrnes WI 8 Yea Glenn Robert Davis WI 9 Yea Alvin O Konski WI 10 Yea Teno Roncalio WY at large Yea Ratification by the states Having been passed by the 92nd United States Congress the proposed Twenty sixth Amendment was sent to the state legislatures for their consideration Which state was the first to officially ratify the amendment was a matter of dispute the Minnesota legislature approved the amendment at 3 14 p m CST 4 14 p m EST minutes before U S Senate president pro tempore Allen J Ellender officially approved the federal law at approximately 4 35 or 4 40 pm EST Legislators in Delaware which ratified the amendment at 4 51 pm argued that Minnesota s ratification was invalid because the amendment had not yet been sent to the states The U S Senate parliamentarian ruled that Minnesota acted prematurely but the legality of its ratification of the amendment was never officially challenged Ratification was completed on June 30 1971 after the amendment had been ratified by thirty eight states Which state was the 38th to ratify and thus put the amendment into effect has also been disputed Contemporaneous reports agree that Ohio s House of Representatives cast the decisive vote on the evening of June 30 and that Alabama and North Carolina had ratified the amendment earlier in the day As of 2013 however the Government Printing Office states that North Carolina did not complete its ratification of the amendment until July 1 at which time it became the 38th state to ratify Additionally Alabama governor George Wallace claimed that his state was the 38th to ratify because he did not sign the ratification resolution until after North Carolina and Ohio completed their ratifications however the approval of the governor is not required to ratify an amendment Minnesota March 23 1971 4 14 p m EST Delaware March 23 1971 4 51 p m EST Tennessee March 23 1971 5 10 p m EST Washington March 23 1971 5 42 p m EST Connecticut March 23 1971 5 53 p m EST Hawaii March 24 1971 Massachusetts March 24 1971 Montana March 29 1971 Arkansas March 30 1971 Idaho March 30 1971 Iowa March 30 1971 Nebraska April 2 1971 New Jersey April 3 1971 Kansas April 7 1971 Michigan April 7 1971 Alaska April 8 1971 Maryland April 8 1971 Indiana April 8 1971 Maine April 9 1971 Vermont April 16 1971 Louisiana April 17 1971 California April 19 1971 Colorado April 27 1971 Pennsylvania April 27 1971 Texas April 27 1971 South Carolina April 28 1971 West Virginia April 28 1971 New Hampshire May 13 1971 Arizona May 14 1971 Rhode Island May 27 1971 New York June 2 1971 Oregon June 4 1971 Missouri June 14 1971 Wisconsin June 22 1971 Illinois June 29 1971 Alabama June 30 1971 North Carolina June 30 1971 Ohio June 30 1971 Having been ratified by three fourths of the States 38 the Twenty sixth Amendment became part of the Constitution On July 5 1971 the Administrator of General Services Robert Kunzig certified its adoption President Nixon and Julianne Jones Joseph W Loyd Jr and Paul S Larimer of the Young Americans in Concert also signed the certificate as witnesses During the signing ceremony held in the East Room of the White House Nixon talked about his confidence in the youth of America As I meet with this group today I sense that we can have confidence that America s new voters America s young generation will provide what America needs as we approach our bicentennial not just strength and not just wealth but the Spirit of 76 a spirit of moral courage a spirit of high idealism in which we believe in the American dream but in which we realize that the American dream can never be fulfilled until every American has an equal chance to fulfill it in their own life The amendment was subsequently ratified by 5 more states bringing the total number of ratifying states to 43 39 Oklahoma July 1 1971 40 Virginia July 8 1971 41 Wyoming July 8 1971 42 Georgia October 4 1971 43 South Dakota March 4 2014 No action has been taken on the amendment by the states of Florida Kentucky Mississippi Nevada New Mexico North Dakota or Utah See alsoFifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 1870 extending vote rights to non white men Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 1920 extending vote rights to women Representation of the People Act 1969 legislation in the United Kingdom with equivalent effect References The 26th Amendment History November 27 2019 Retrieved July 30 2020 Old Enough to Fight Old Enough to Vote The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment The National WWII Museum New Orleans October 28 2020 Retrieved June 27 2024 United States Government Printing Office Reduction of Voting Age Twenty Sixth Amendment PDF Vaughn Vanessa E DOMESTIC AFFAIRS Twenty Sixth Amendment Defining Documents The 1970s pp 145 147 a href wiki Template Cite book title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint publisher location link Neale Thomas H Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 35 Neale Thomas H Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 36 37 Dwight D Eisenhower Public Papers of the Presidents January 7 1954 p 22 University of California Santa Barbara The American Presidency Project Commencement Address at Texas Christian University Neale Thomas H Lowering the Voting Age was not a New Idea in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 38 de Schweinitz Rebecca May 22 2015 The Proper Age for Suffrage Age in America NYU Press pp 209 236 doi 10 18574 nyu 9781479870011 003 0011 ISBN 978 1 4798 7001 1 De Schweinitz Rebecca 2009 If we could change the world young people and America s long struggle for racial equality The University of North Carolina Press ISBN 978 0 8078 3235 6 OCLC 963537002 Kennedy Edward M The Time Has Come to Let Young People Vote in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 56 64 University of California Santa Barbara Statement on Signing the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 presidency ucsb edu Richard Nixon Public Papers of the Presidents June 22 1970 p 512 Educational Broadcasting Corporation 2006 Majority Rules Oregon v Mitchell 1970 PBS 18 for Georgia and Kentucky 19 for Alaska and 20 for Hawaii Neale Thomas H The Eighteen Year Old Vote The Twenty Sixth Amendment and Subsequent Voting Rates of Newly Enfranchised Age Groups 1983 Oregon v Mitchell LII Legal Information Institute Retrieved June 3 2019 Graham Fred P in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 67 Nixon Richard Changing the Voting age will Require a Constitutional Amendment in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 70 77 Tokaji Daniel P 2006 Intent and Its Alternatives Defending the New Voting Rights Act PDF Alabama Law Review 58 353 Retrieved July 29 2015 Oregon v Mitchell 400 U S 112 1970 pp 188 121 Making Civics Real Workshop 2 Essential Readings Annenberg Learner Archived from the original on June 8 2019 Retrieved October 29 2015 Carleton William G Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 47 Carleton William G Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 48 49 Carleton William G Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 p 49 Carleton William G Teen Voting Would Accelerate Undesirable Changes in the Democratic Process in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 50 51 Kilpatrick James J The States are being Extorted into Ratifying the Twenty sixth Amendment in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 123 127 Gallup George The Majority of Americans Favor the Twenty sixth Amendment in Amendment XXVI Lowering the Voting Age ed Engdahl Sylvia New York Greenhaven Press 2010 pp 128 130 Graham Fred P May 15 1968 Voting Age of 18 Is Supported By Four Senators at a Hearing The New York Times p 23 Sperling Godfrey Jr February 13 1971 Bayh peers into dual voting thicket Fraud possibilities weighed Intolerable burden The Christian Science Monitor MacKenzie John P February 13 1971 Bayh Favors Amendment To End Vote at 18 Chaos The Washington Post pp A2 Amendment on Vote at 18 Gains a Step The Chicago Tribune United Press International March 3 1971 pp C1 Senate Journal of the Senate 92nd Congress 1st session 1971 S S J Res 7 House Gets 18 Vote After Senate OKs It The Evening Press Binghamton New York Associated Press March 11 1971 p 12 House Journal of the House 92nd Congress 1st session 1971 H S J Res 7 Milutin Tomanovic ed 1972 Hronika međunarodnih događaja 1971 The Chronicle of International Events in 1971 in Serbo Croatian Belgrade Institute of International Politics and Economics p 2608 House of Representatives Vote On 26th Amendment March 23 1971 Archived from the original on January 20 2020 Schamdeke John and Jack Nolan 18 year old vote passes House is sent to states Wilmington Morning News March 24 1971 pages 1 and 2 State Ratifies Vote Amendment Minneapolis Tribune March 24 1971 page 14A State Cries Foul In Ratifying Race Wilmington Evening Journal March 24 1971 pages 1 and 2 Wheat Warren 18 Year Old Vote In Ohio Does It Cincinnati Enquirer July 1 1971 front page 18 Year Old Vote Now Law N C Ohio Ratify Amendment Charlotte Observer July 1 1971 pages 1A and 2A The Constitution of the United States of America Analysis and Interpretation Centennial Edition Interim Edition Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 26 2013 PDF Washington DC U S Government Printing Office 2013 p 44 Retrieved April 13 2014 Wallace says Alabama was key to ballot July 2 1971 front page Morse Charles F J Legislature Ratifies 18 Year Old Vote Hartford Courant March 24 1971 pages 1 and 2 Remarks at a Ceremony Marking the Certification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution The American Presidency Project University of California Santa Barbara Retrieved April 29 2023 Senate Joint Resolution 1 South Dakota Legislature Pierre South Dakota SD Legislative Research Council Archived from the original on April 29 2023 Retrieved April 29 2023 Further reading Caplan Sheri J Old Enough How 18 Year Olds Won the Vote amp Why it Matters Heath Hen 2020 ISBN 978 1 7354 9300 8 External linksCRS Annotated Constitution Twenty sixth Amendment Eric Fish The Twenty sixth Amendment Enforcement Power