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An Overview of the 26th Amendment

An Overview of the 26th Amendment What is 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 the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

The 26th Amendment Defined

Date Proposed

The 26th Amendment was passed on March 23rd, 1971

Date Passed

The 26th Amendment was passed on July 7th, 1971

President of the United States

Richard Nixon was the President of the United States during the ratification of the 26th Amendment

Stipulations of the 26th Amendment

The 26th Amendment was a Congressional activation of the adjustment of the voting age within the United States of America; this Amendment allowed for the national voting age to be adjusted to 18 years of age

The 26th Amendment allowed for the institution of a nation voting age in lieu of the preexisting statutes, which allowed for the variance in the legal voting age taking place on a state-by-state basis

26th Amendment Facts

Prior to the passing of the Amendment, President Nixon had passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which had allowed for the national voting age with regard to Federal and State elections to be set at a mandatory 18 years of age; however, only after its ratification did the 26th Amendment become Constitutional legislature

Upon President Eisenhower addressing the nation in his State of the Union address in 1954, he introduced the elimination of the refusal of suffrage with regard to age parameters

Prior to the passing of the 26th Amendment, only 4 states allowed individuals under 21 years of age the right to vote

States Ratifying the 26th Amendment

1. Alabama

2. Alaska

3. Arizona

4. Arkansas

5. California

6. Colorado

7. Connecticut

8. Delaware

9. Georgia

10. Hawaii

11. Idaho

12. Illinois

13. Indiana

14. Iowa

15. Kansas

16. Louisiana

17. Maine

18. Maryland

19. Massachusetts

20. Michigan

21. Minnesota

22. Missouri

23. Montana

24. Nebraska

25. New Hampshire

26. New Jersey

27. New York

28. North Carolina

29. Ohio

30. Oklahoma

31. Oregon

32. Pennsylvania

33. Rhode Island

34. South Carolina

35. Tennessee

36. Texas

37. Vermont

38. Virginia

39. Washington

40. West Virginia

41. Wisconsin

42. Wyoming

States Not Participatory in the Ratification of the26th Amendment

1. Florida

2. Kentucky

3. Mississippi

4. Nevada

5. New Mexico

6. North Dakota

7. South Dakota

8. Utah

Court Cases Associated with the 26th Amendment

Oregon v. Mitchell (1970) – this court case took place in the wake of the Vietnam War; the proceedings resulted in the Supreme Court revoking the permission granted to individual states to determine their respective voting age(s)

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