Twenty-Sixth Amendment

THE ADOPTION OF the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution on March 10, 1971 marked a reduction of the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 years of age. Its passage also signaled a conclusion to a debate dating back to the Civil War, regarding a controversy over the military draft and the minimum voting age. It seemed ironic and unfair to some Americans that the government could draft soldiers between the ages of 18 and 21 to fight in a war and risk their lives on the battlefield, but not allow those soldiers to vote. Consequently, a voice of dissention arose (which reached its height during the Vietnam War) contending that all soldiers should be able to vote for or against those government officials who have the authority of deciding whether or not to send them to war. Soon after the United States' entry into World War II, a resurgence of the debate led members of Congress to act on the issue. Beginning in 1942, Senator Arthur Vandenberg (R) and Representative lennings Randolph (D) introduced legislative initiatives to lower the voting age, and many others followed. Others, such as Representative Emanuel Celler (D), pushed for a permanent freeze of the voting age at 21. By 1971, Congress had introduced over 150 proposals in support and dissent on the subject.

Members of Congress were not alone in their determination to address the issue. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon also joined the debate. President Eisenhower called for [Page 803]a reduction of the voting age in his 1954 State of the Union Address. In the summer of 1968, President Johnson began calling on Congress to propose and adopt an amendment to the Constitution. As a presidential candidate that year, Richard Nixon also voiced his support for allowing 18-year-olds to vote, but was skeptical regarding the constitutionality of having the reform passed as a legislative statute. Between 1968 and 1970, Congress also held a number of key hearings on the matter. In addition to the issue of military service, proponents for reducing the voting age pointed to the ability of the age group to hold jobs, pay taxes, attend college, be tried in court as adults, drive an automobile, and, at the time, drink alcohol. In the end, public pressure during the Vietnam War and a key decision by the Supreme Court paved the way for the Twenty-Sixth Amendment.

When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 expired in 1970, Congress renewed it with a provision for lowering the voting age. President Nixon signed the legislation into law, but openly reiterated his reservations regarding its constitutionality as a legislative statute. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of the provision in Oregon v. Mitchell (1970). In its ruling, the Supreme Court held that, although Congress had the power to lower the voting age at the federal level, such power did not extend to state or local elections. In light of this decision, some states would need to create a dual voting system or amend their respective constitutions in order for 18 to 21-year-olds to be able to vote.

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