th
26
Amendment
Voting Age
Ratified 1971


What It Says
 Right
 U.S.
to vote is guaranteed to:
Citizens age 18 or older
 Cannot
 U.S.
be denied by:
Government
 States
Examples
 Right

to Vote is Granted:
U.S. Citizens age 18 and older:



Any Race
Any Religion
Any Ethnicity
Causes
 World
War II
Slogan: “Old enough to fight, old
enough to vote”
 Originally proposed in 1942

 Vietnam

War
Issue gained more attention
Related Events

Georgia lowers
voting age (1943)
First state to do so
 Only state and
local elections

Court Case

Oregon v. United States (1970)

Supreme Court Ruling:
 Upholds


prohibition of:
Literacy Tests
Certain Residency Requirements
 Congress

can lower voting age
Federal Elections Only
26th Amendment


Passed in 1971
Officially made the
voting age 18 and older

All elections
Impact
 1972

Presidential Election
First Election after 26th Amendment

Voters age 18-21 years old
 50% Turnout to vote
Youth Voter Turnout
Positives


Ratification of the 26th Amendment only
took 99 days (from March 1971 to June
1971).
It took 11 months to ratify the 15th
Amendment, 15 months to ratify the 19th
Amendment, and 200+ years to ratify the
27th Amendment.
Negatives



In 1972 – 50% of people ages 18-24
voted
In 2000 – 35% of people ages 18-24
voted
There are eight states that never ratified
the 26th Amendment: Florida, Kentucky,
Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Utah