Amendment XXVI
Voting Age Set to 18 Years
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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.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Ratified: July 1, 1971
The 26th Amendment, which ensures the vote to all citizens over the age of 18, was proposed on March 23, 1971.
| # | State | Date | * |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | Mar 23, 1971 | |
| 2 | Delaware | Mar 23, 1971 | |
| 3 | Minnesota | Mar 23, 1971 | |
| 4 | Tennessee | Mar 23, 1971 | |
| 5 | Washington | Mar 23, 1971 | |
| 6 | Hawaii | Mar 24, 1971 | |
| 7 | Massachusetts | Mar 24, 1971 | |
| 8 | Montana | Mar 29, 1971 | |
| 9 | Arkansas | Mar 30, 1971 | |
| 10 | Idaho | Mar 30, 1971 | |
| 11 | Iowa | Mar 30, 1971 | |
| 12 | Nebraska | Apr 2, 1971 | |
| 13 | New Jersey | Apr 3, 1971 | |
| 14 | Kansas | Apr 7, 1971 | |
| 15 | Michigan | Apr 7, 1971 | |
| 16 | Alaska | Apr 8, 1971 | |
| 17 | Maryland | Apr 8, 1971 | |
| 18 | Indiana | Apr 8, 1971 | |
| 19 | Maine | Apr 9, 1971 | |
| 20 | Vermont | Apr 16, 1971 | |
| 21 | Louisiana | Apr 17, 1971 | |
| 22 | California | Apr 19, 1971 | |
| 23 | Colorado | Apr 27, 1971 | |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | Apr 27, 1971 | |
| 25 | Texas | Apr 27, 1971 | |
| 26 | South Carolina | Apr 28, 1971 | |
| 27 | West Virginia | Apr 28, 1971 | |
| 28 | New Hampshire | May 13, 1971 | |
| 29 | Arizona | May 14, 1971 | |
| 30 | Rhode Island | May 27, 1971 | |
| 31 | New York | Jun 2, 1971 | |
| 32 | Oregon | Jun 4, 1971 | |
| 33 | Missouri | Jun 14, 1971 | |
| 34 | Wisconsin | Jun 22, 1971 | |
| 35 | Illinois | Jun 29, 1971 | |
| 36 | Alabama | Jun 30, 1971 | |
| 37 | Ohio | Jun 30, 1971 | |
| 38 | North Carolina | Jul 1, 1971 | |
| 39 | Oklahoma | Jul 1, 1971 | * |
| 40 | Virginia | Jul 8, 1971 | |
| 41 | Wyoming | Jul 8, 1971 | |
| 42 | Georgia | Oct 4, 1971 | |
| Ratified in 100 days | |||
History: The United States was in the throes of the Vietnam War and protests were underway throughout the nation. Draftees into the armed services were any male over the age of 18. There was a seeming dichotomy, however: these young men were allowed, even forced, to fight and die for their country, but they were unable to vote. The 14th Amendment only guaranteed the vote, in a roundabout way, to those over twenty-one.
The Congress attempted to right this wrong in 1970 by passing an extension to the 1965 Voting Rights Act (which itself is enforcement legislation based on prior suffrage amendments) that gave the vote to all persons 18 or older, in all elections, on all levels. Oregon objected to the 18-year-old limit, as well as other provisions of the 1970 Act (it also objected to a prohibition on literacy tests for the franchise). In Oregon v Mitchell (400 U.S. 112), a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that the Congress had the power to lower the voting age to 18 for national elections, but not for state and local elections. The case was decided on December 1, 1970. Within months, on March 23, 1971, the Congress passed the text of the 26th Amendment, specifically setting a national voting age, in both state and national elections, to 18. In just 100 days, on July 1, 1971, the amendment was ratified.
Close Up, an organization dedicated to involving youth in government, has produced a PDF pamphlet on the 26th Amendment and history. You can find the pamphlet on their web site.
