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Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

 
Twenty Sixth Amendment To the United States Constitution

 
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Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
 
 
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The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
 standardized the voting age to 18. It was adopted in response to student activism
Student activism

Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding....
 against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
 and to partially overrule the Supreme Court's
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 decision in Oregon v. Mitchell
Oregon v. Mitchell

Oregon v. Mitchell, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that states could set their own age limits for state elections....
. It was adopted on July 1, 1971.

is 1954 State of the Union Address
State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented before a joint session of Congress and held in the United States House of Representatives chamber at the U.S....
, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first President to publicly state his support for prohibiting age based denials of suffrage
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
 for those 18 and older.






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The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
 standardized the voting age to 18. It was adopted in response to student activism
Student activism

Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding....
 against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
 and to partially overrule the Supreme Court's
Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 decision in Oregon v. Mitchell
Oregon v. Mitchell

Oregon v. Mitchell, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that states could set their own age limits for state elections....
. It was adopted on July 1, 1971.

Text


Background

In his 1954 State of the Union Address
State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented before a joint session of Congress and held in the United States House of Representatives chamber at the U.S....
, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first President to publicly state his support for prohibiting age based denials of suffrage
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
 for those 18 and older. A little over 16 years later, on June 22, 1970, President Nixon signed a law which required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state and local elections. In his statement on his signing the extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Nixon stated: Subsequently Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 and Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 challenged it in court. In Oregon v. Mitchell
Oregon v. Mitchell

Oregon v. Mitchell, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that states could set their own age limits for state elections....
, , in which the Supreme Court declared the parts of the law which required states to register 18-year-olds for state and local elections to be unconstitutional
Constitutionality

Constitutionality is the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable constitution....
, Justice Hugo Black
Hugo Black

Hugo LaFayette Black was an Politics of the United States and Law of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party , Black represented the U.S....
 stated: By this time, four states had a minimum voting age below 21.

The Congress and the state legislatures felt increasing pressure to pass the Constitutional amendment because of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
, in which many young men who were ineligible to vote were conscripted
Conscription

Conscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of government policies that require citizens to serve in the military....
 to fight in the war. "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote," was a common slogan used by proponents of lowering the voting age that traced its roots back to World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
 lowered the military draft age to eighteen. The idea was that people who were old enough to be drafted into the military should have a say in the selection of the civilian government that determines when and how military force is used. On March 10, 1971, the Senate
United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
 voted 94-0 in favor of proposing a Constitutional amendment to guarantee that the voting age couldn't be higher than 18. On March 23, 1971, the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as "the House", is one of the bicameralism of the United States Congress; the other is the United States Senate....
 voted 401-19 in favor of the proposed amendment. Within months the resolution was ratified
Article Five of the United States Constitution

Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process whereby the Constitution may be altered. Such amendments may be proposed by the United States Congress or by a national Convention to propose amendment to U.S....
 by three-fourths of the state legislatures, faster than any other amendment. On July 5, 1971, during the amendment's signing ceremony in the East Room
East Room

| |-| |-| |-| |-|-| |}The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the President of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner....
, President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
 talked about his confidence in the youth of America. The Twenty sixth Amendment was formally certified by the Administrator of General Services
General Services Administration

The General Services Administration is an Independent agencies of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies....
 on July 7, 1971.

26th Amendment Pg1of1 Ac

Proposal and ratification

The Congress proposed the Twenty-sixth Amendment on March 23, 1971 and the following states ratified the amendment:
  1. Connecticut (March 23, 1971)
  2. Delaware (March 23, 1971)
  3. Minnesota (March 23, 1971)
  4. Tennessee (March 23, 1971)
  5. Washington (March 23, 1971)
  6. Hawaii (March 24, 1971)
  7. Massachusetts (March 24, 1971)
  8. Montana (March 29, 1971)
  9. Arkansas (March 30, 1971)
  10. Idaho (March 30, 1971)
  11. Iowa (March 30, 1971)
  12. Nebraska (April 2, 1971)
  13. New Jersey (April 3, 1971)
  14. Kansas (April 7, 1971)
  15. Michigan (April 7, 1971)
  16. Alaska (April 8, 1971)
  17. Maryland (April 8, 1971)
  18. Indiana (April 8, 1971)
  19. Maine (April 9, 1971)
  20. Vermont (April 16, 1971)
  21. Louisiana (April 17, 1971)
  22. California (April 19, 1971)
  23. Colorado (April 27, 1971)
  24. Pennsylvania (April 27, 1971)
  25. Texas (April 27, 1971)
  26. South Carolina (April 28, 1971)
  27. West Virginia (April 28, 1971)
  28. New Hampshire (May 13, 1971)
  29. Arizona (May 14, 1971)
  30. Rhode Island (May 27, 1971)
  31. New York (June 2, 1971)
  32. Oregon (June 4, 1971)
  33. Missouri (June 14, 1971)
  34. Wisconsin (June 22, 1971)
  35. Illinois (June 29, 1971)
  36. Alabama (June 30, 1971)
  37. Ohio (June 30, 1971)
  38. North Carolina (July 1, 1971)
  39. Oklahoma (July 1, 1971)
After its adoption, three more states voted to ratify the amendment:
  1. Virginia (July 8, 1971)
  2. Wyoming (July 8, 1971)
  3. Georgia (October 4, 1971)
The following states have not ratified the amendment:
  1. Florida
  2. Kentucky
  3. Mississippi
  4. Nevada
  5. New Mexico
  6. North Dakota
  7. South Dakota
  8. Utah


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