2626thth Amendment Amendment Voting AgeVoting Age

Ratified 1971Ratified 1971

What It SaysWhat It Says

Right to vote is guaranteed to:Right to vote is guaranteed to: U.S. Citizens age 18 or olderU.S. Citizens age 18 or older

Cannot be denied by:Cannot be denied by: U.S. GovernmentU.S. Government StatesStates

ExamplesExamples

Right to Vote is Granted:Right to Vote is Granted: U.S. Citizens age 18 and U.S. Citizens age 18 and older:older: Any RaceAny Race Any ReligionAny Religion Any EthnicityAny Ethnicity

CausesCauses

World War IIWorld War II Slogan: “Old enough to fight, Slogan: “Old enough to fight,

old enough to vote” old enough to vote” Originally proposed in 1942Originally proposed in 1942

Vietnam WarVietnam War Issue gained more attentionIssue gained more attention

Related EventsRelated Events

Georgia lowers Georgia lowers voting age voting age (1943)(1943)

First state to do First state to do soso

Only state and Only state and local electionslocal elections

Court CaseCourt Case

Oregon v. United States Oregon v. United States (1970)(1970) Supreme Court Ruling:Supreme Court Ruling:

Upholds prohibition of:Upholds prohibition of: Literacy TestsLiteracy Tests Certain Residency RequirementsCertain Residency Requirements

Congress can lower voting ageCongress can lower voting age Federal Elections OnlyFederal Elections Only

2626thth Amendment Amendment

Passed in 1971Passed in 1971 Officially made the Officially made the

voting age 18 and voting age 18 and olderolder All electionsAll elections

ImpactImpact

1972 Presidential Election1972 Presidential Election First Election after 26First Election after 26thth

AmendmentAmendment Voters age 18-21 years oldVoters age 18-21 years old

50% Turnout to vote50% Turnout to vote

Youth Voter TurnoutYouth Voter Turnout

PositivesPositives

Ratification of the 26Ratification of the 26thth Amendment Amendment only took 99 days (from March 1971 only took 99 days (from March 1971 to June 1971). to June 1971).

It took 11 months to ratify the 15It took 11 months to ratify the 15thth Amendment, 15 months to ratify the Amendment, 15 months to ratify the 1919thth Amendment, and 200+ years to Amendment, and 200+ years to ratify the 27ratify the 27thth Amendment. Amendment.

NegativesNegatives

In 1972 – 50% of people ages 18-24 In 1972 – 50% of people ages 18-24 votedvoted

In 2000 – 35% of people ages 18-24 In 2000 – 35% of people ages 18-24 votedvoted

There are eight states that never ratified There are eight states that never ratified the 26the 26thth Amendment: Florida, Kentucky, Amendment: Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah Dakota, South Dakota, Utah