26th Amendment

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