The Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution

The 26th Amendment of the United States Constitution

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 the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Story of the 26th Amendment’s Passage and Ratification

The fight for youth suffrage began during the Vietnam War. At that time, soldiers were being drafted at a minimum of 18 years of age; these soldiers, however, were still unable to vote. “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote,” became the hackneyed slogan of the time. In the year 1969, the National Education Association (NEA) teamed up with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), student members of the California Teachers Association (CTA), and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) to debut an unheralded campaign in order to support the sought-after legislation. The campaign was called “Project 18,”and its ultimate goal was to lobby for a newly created Constitutional amendment permitting the suffrage of persons at a minimum age of 18 years. After witnessing Project 18’s support throughout the country and seeing all of the valiant efforts being made by commonplace yet altogether passionate American citizens, the president at the time - Richard Nixon - allowed people of 18 years of age to vote in the amended Voting Rights Act of 1970.

This change, however, did not fare well with a substantial number of the American people. Although Congress passed legislation requiring that the legal voting age for citizens of the United States of America be decreased from 21 years of age to 18, the states of Oregon, Texas, and Idaho saw this change in the voting age as a violation of the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States further substantiated their claims and, in the popular Supreme Court case entitled Oregon v. Mitchell, ruled in favor of their decision. The three states brought suit against John Mitchell and challenged the Voting Rights Act Amendment. The argument against this claim detailed that under the Equal Protection Clause, the government cannot hinder the suffrage of an individual between the age range of 18 and 21. In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to amend the voting age for state elections specifically; however, it ruled that Congress does have the power to amend the voting age for federal elections.

Although this at first seemed like a massive blight on the previous efforts of youth and organizations across the nation, things somehow managed to fall into place in the end. On March 10th in the year 1971, the United States Senate voted unanimously in a 94-0 vote to pass the resolution in support of amending the voting age. On March 23, 1971, the United States House of Representatives subsequently supported it as well in a 401-19 vote. Signed into law in the month of July, this groundbreaking piece of legislation was the fastest proposed amendment to take effect in the history of the United States of America - merely within the span of four months!   

On July 1st in the year 1971, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. The youth of America’s valiant and heroic efforts did not go unnoticed and, furthermore, did not die in vain.

Effect of the 26th Amendment on the United States of America

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United State Constitution, at the time of its passage and ratification, added around eleven million new young voters to the election polls. Although it was believed that these younger voters would vote for George McGovern, Nixon’s democratic challenger, Nixon was almost overwhelmingly re-elected back into office, perhaps as a token of appreciation for the generous Constitutional amendment.  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment’s lasting effect however is the suffrage of young voters. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment ultimately allows teenagers of at least eighteen years of age the ability to become active the in the United States’ political process.

Effect of the 26th Amendment on Me

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment is a fundamentally crucial piece of legislation. Living within a country that flourished in part due to the oppression of others, I believe that not only the stipulations of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, but also the principle of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment is of utmost importance. If we allow suffrage to United States citizens regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of sexual orientation, and regardless of previous nationality, what does it say to the world when we continue to deny the vote of American citizens due to their age? The oppression of youth in the United States of America is a grim yet over-looked reality. From curfews to uniforms to legislation restricting youth from entering certain shopping centers on certain days of the week, this country tries vigorously to put a censor on us - to halt our expression and, ultimately, our freedoms. With this groundbreaking and incontrovertibly necessary piece of legislation, the United States of America continues to live up to its oftentimes elusive promise of “liberty and justice for ALL.”

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