The U.S. Constitution Series: Amendment 26 - Voting Age

[OfTheCross]

Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.

Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.

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 power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Constitution: Amendments 11-27


Previous Threads:
Amendment 27



What are your thoughts on Amendment 26 ?

Would you vote to Ratify it, Reject it or Modify it?

 

[OfTheCross]

This amendment basically gave anyone over the age of 18 the right to vote.

Also gives the government the ability to enforce the amendment by all it's means

 

[OfTheCross]

I would ratify, but modify.

make it mandatory for everyone to register at school or the DMV and have them take a mandatory Civics course

 

[Mr Rager]

I like this series idea. Rep

I don't see anything too controversial about this one. Assuming in the 70's the age of most "coming-of-age" rights (smoking, joining the military, etc) was 18, this amendment doesn't appear to be too out of line. I am curious as to what drove the creation and ratification of this amendment though?

 

[OfTheCross]

I like this series idea. Rep

I don't see anything too controversial about this one. Assuming in the 70's the age of most "coming-of-age" rights (smoking, joining the military, etc) was 18, this amendment doesn't appear to be too out of line. I am curious as to what drove the creation and ratification of this amendment though?

Basically Vietnam.

Young ppl ain't want to go die over there and not be able to vote, i.e. choose a President that might not get them killed in a bullshyt war

 

[OfTheCross]

I had voted to ratify, and I would, as is. But if I were doing it all over again today I would have the Civics requirement and mandatory enrollment.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

I had voted to ratify, and I would, as is. But if I were doing it all over again today I would have the Civics requirement and mandatory enrollment.

some schools may not offer civics and that could potentially be prejudicial

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

i would either modify it to lower the age to 16 or i would raise the driving age

old enough to drive a car and possibly endanger lives but not vote? its not logically consistent in terms of "responsibility". id also probably lower the drinking age to 18

 

[mastermind]

Modify it to 16

 

[OfTheCross]

some schools may not offer civics and that could potentially be prejudicial

I figure it can be made available through the DMV. A computer based training could even suffice

 

[OfTheCross]

Lowering the age to 16 ain't a bad idea, though

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

I figure it can be made available through the DMV. A computer based training could even suffice

even then its dicey. i would 100% be in favor of that being offered or even mandated to be available to kids but i wouldnt make it a requirement to take the class in order to be able to vote

i would make voter registration at schools mandatory though. if they can do selective service they can do voter registration