Lowering the Voting age and the 26th Amendment, http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8805/m1, The case for lowering the voting age is probably better than you think.

Prior to the amendment, black people and others of little means were excluded from casting votes because they did not have the money to pay for a poll tax. Ratified July 1, 1971.

In her spare time, she loves writing articles about education for TheClassroom.com, WorkingMother and other education sites. A Gallup poll from January 1943 shows that only 39 percent favored reducing the voting age to eighteen, leaving a sizeable amount of Americans still opposed to the idea. Whether you’re studying times tables or applying to college, Classroom has the answers. 34/2001). citizens eighteen or older can vote, so maybe the citizen had to be They could either prepare separate ballots for state and federal elections (which would likely be a costly undertaking), or they could unify their age requirements with those related to federal elections. Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy¸13 ed. What was the voting age before the 26th amendment? Before the amendment was passed the federal voting age was twenty-one. “Of the 17 constitutional amendments passed since the Bill of Rights, five have focused on the expansion of the electorate.”[1]  The Jacksonian Revolution eliminated property requirements for white males, and subsequent amendments gave African-American males, women, and residents of the District of Colombia the right to vote. The 17th Amendment shifted the power to elect senators from the state legislature to the people. Ano ang pinakamaliit na kontinente sa mundo? The first widespread support of federal action lowering the voting age to eighteen occurred during World War II. The question of a standardized voting age had been briefly addressed even before activism would begin against the Vietnam War. Based on the Word Net lexical database for the English Language. In the early years of the Republic, most states had stringent voting requirements which excluded the majority of the populace from voting. In 1971, Senator Jennings Randolph (D-West Virginia) proposed a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to eighteen. The system of checks and balances helps maintain a balance of power while the amendment and ratification process allows for evolution as needed over time. All Rights Reserved. [9] With large and vocal sections of the populace demanding suffrage and newly complicated voting rules, it was evident that a resolution was needed to solve the problem created by both the baby boom and the Oregon v. Mitchell ruling. Ratified in 1804, the 12th Amendment changed the rules governing presidential elections. The electoral college is a group of electors from each state that is equal to the number of senators and congressmen for that state. During World War II, President Roosevelt authorized lowering the age to serve in the... Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. The 12th Amendment makes it possible for a president to be elected without winning the popular vote. Grapefruit Foundation (to 15 years of age), vote4future.at Austrian National Youth Council, K.R.Ä.T.Z.Ä. The 26th Amendment gave voting rights to any American citizen who was 18 years of age or older. like in their thirty 's . This new law added the possibility of eleven million more potential voters. Feministiskt Initiativ", "Green Party - Greens back calls for votes at 16", Green Party in Northern Ireland manifesto 2017, National Health Action Party - election manifesto 2015, "Age and political participation in Germany, France and the UK: a comparative analysis", A more complete list of voting ages around the world (in German), National Women's Rights Convention (1850–1869), Women's suffrage organizations and publications, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial, Centenary of Women's Suffrage Commemorative Fountain, Drug and precursor laws by country or territory, Legality of bitcoin by country or territory, List of top international rankings by country, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voting_age&oldid=982728351, Articles with dead external links from January 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with Ukrainian-language sources (uk), Articles with dead external links from December 2017, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from November 2018, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2007, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Articles needing additional references from November 2008, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Turkey: 20 April 1924 (Previously 25 per the, Netherlands: 1971 (previous reduction from 23 to 21 in 1965), Finland: 1972 (from 20; previous reductions were 24 to 21 in 1944 and 21 to 20 in 1968/1969), Philippines: 17 January 1973, after the 1973 constitution was announced to have been, New Zealand: November 1974 (from 20; previous reduction from 21 to 20 in 1969), Denmark: 19 September 1978 (from 20; 53.8% in, India: 28 March 1989 (61st Constitution Amendment Act, 1988 read with Act 21 of 1989), Switzerland: 1991 (from 20; referendum held on 3 March), Austria: 1992 (from 19; previous reductions were 21 to 20 in 1949 and 20 to 19 in 1970), Estonia: 29 July 1992 (from 22, according to the 1938 Constitution; was 18 during the, Liechtenstein: 2000 (from 20; LGBl. Prior to the amendment, senators were elected by the legislature for each state. The Twenty-sixth Amendment was proposed by the United States Congress on March 23, 1971 and ratified on July 1, 1971, making it the fastest an amendment passed through the process. With slavery having been abolished only five years prior to its ratification, the 15th Amendment reflected the gradual integration of African-Americans into American society. Coats-of-Arms: Where did they come from and why? In his 1954 State of the Union address, Eisenhower declared: “For years our citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 have, in time of peril, been summoned to fight for America. Steve Morrison gives the exact answer as to the basis. thank you for this great collection of sites, https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/vote/businesses, Pingback: The case for lowering the voting age is probably better than you think. In the turmoil surrounding the unpopular Vietnam War, lowering the national voting age became a controversial topic. Create your account. In 1964, poll taxes were eliminated via the Twenty-fourth amendment, thereby ensuring impoverished Americans had an equal right to vote. Ratified in 1913, the 17th Amendment changed the way that senators are elected. The right to vote has always been a part of the U.S. Constitution, but thanks to several amendments passed throughout the years, it has undergone significant changes on six different occasions. Passed by Congress March 23, 1971.