Then, estimates run as high as 10 to 20 years for the time required to win ratifica tion by the necessary 38 state legislatures. Lowering the voting age to 18 had been a hot topic in recent times. I have one question, why did we lower it? Today's discussion was brisk and spirited, the issue of lowering the voting age never having been on the House floor before. In 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy proposed amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age nationally. Congress sent … District judges ale instructed “to cause the ease to be in every way expedited.” The bill does not make clear, however, whether such a challenge would be brought by the At torney General, who is em powered to sue states who do not lower their voting ages, or by one or more private citizens. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., on Thursday said she was "shocked" that lowering the legal voting age to 16 is a "polarizing" subject of debate. The Voting Rights Act of 1970 lowered the voting age for federal elections and the 26th Amendment to the Constitution extended that right to 18-year-olds in … [ 43] A A debate over lowering it to 18 began during World War II when President Franklin D. Roosevelt decreased the military draft age to 18. Almost all countries had their minimum voting age set at 21 before World War II. Representative Emanuel Celler, Democrat of Brooklyn, predict ed that a final Supreme Court decision could be reached be fore the end of the year, the effective date for the new vot ing age. Although dropping the voting age to 18 had been discussed for decades, the change didn't actually occur until 1970, under the Trudeau government. By Warren Weaver Jr. Special to The New York Times. If that motion had failed, the way could have been opened for moves to recommit the bill to committee. Lowering the voting age could also help boost low voter turnout, he said. Pressley ‒ a co-sponsor of a resolution to H.R. As an example of how different the times were, British subjects (who weren't also Canadian … It ranged up to 62.5 per cent for the 25‐to‐34 group, 70.8 for the 35‐to‐44 group to a peak of 75.1 for the 45‐to‐54 group. [ 44] P President Eisenhower called for citizens ages 18 to 21 to be included in the political process in his 1954 State of the Union address. Constitutional law expert Michael Morley told PBS the arguments used to lower the voting age to 18 do not translate to lowering it to 16. As the historian Rebecca de Schweinitz writes in her contribution to Age in America, the concepts of citizen and soldier have been linked for a long time, with Americans generally viewing 21 as the age for taking up both the gun and the ballot. Should it be even lower? On March 10, 1971, the United States Senate voted 94–0 in support of proposing an amendment that would lower the minimum voting age to 18 everywhere in the country. In Brazil, voting for anyone age 18 to 69 is mandatory, and for 16- and 17-year-olds it’s optional, kind of like a learner’s permit for driving. Under the ruling, states that declined to lower the voting age to 18 for state elections would have had to provide distinct federal-election only ballots to citizens ages 18 to 20. He said: “Nothing would make John McCormack happier, who will not be back here next year, than to see this resolution adopted.”, Arguing for the 18‐year‐old vote, Representative John B. Anderson, Republican of Illi nois, said, “Young people are afflicted with a sense of powerlessness. Speaker John W. McCor mack, making a rare appear ance on the floor, added a per sonal note to his endorsement of the voting package. The 18‐year‐old‐vote section of the bill specifically provides that cases arising under its provisions — including pre sumably a challenge to its con stitutionality — will be heard by a three‐judge Federal Dis trict Court, with a direct ap peal from its decision to the Supreme Court. The actions of the Amendment allowed the voting age to be reduced from 21 to 18. The Nation in Flux. The scope of the act was broadened some what, as proposed by the Ad ministration. No group greeted the House action with any more satisfac ttion than the Youth Franchise Coalition, a group of young people organized to lobby for the lowered voting age. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! A similar shift occurred in the 1970s when the age was reduced from 21 to 18. Inclusion of the three New York counties in the scope of the voting rights guarantees would mean that Federal in spectors could be sent in to make sure that all eligible per sons were registered and no election law changes could be made without clearance from the Attorney General. Sources: Canadian Human Rights Commission and Elections Canada. After the Cabinet meeting two days ago, the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul announced that the cabinet has agreed to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 By the 1970s, a number of countries – particularly those in Western Europe – dropped the minimum voting age to 18 with the United Kingdom kicked things off with The Representation of the People Act in 1969. The case also upheld Congress's nationwide prohibition on literacy tests and similar "tests or devices" used as voting qualifications as defined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. On March 23, the United States House of Representatives voted 401–19 for the amendment. In 1971, the 26th Amendment was officially ratified. The countries which have lowered the voting age of 21 to 18 since my speech in Parliament on the issue in 1971 included Netherlands, United States, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Philippines, Australia, France, New Zealand, Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, Denmark, Spain, Peru, Belgium, India, Switzerland, Austria, Estonia, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Japan. “You had the notion that 18 was already adulthood in several other contexts,” such as facing the draft, establishing households, and starting families. This would bring Man hattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn under Justice Department supervision, among other Northern counties. Speaker McCormack, who normally gavels down such noise, ignored the demonstra tion. [ 44] B Half of these young voters cast their ballot in the 1972 presidential election. If President Nixon vetoes the voting package, it could still become law if both the Senate and House repassed it by two– thirds majorities. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. By 1968, several states had lowered the voting age below 21 years: Alaska and Hawaii's minimum age was 20, while Georgia and Kentucky's was 18. The. With the 1970s' youth rights movement in full swing, this Take 30 clip looks at whether children should be allowed to vote. Today's final House vote was just over two– thirds, but it included several Republicans who had voted against the bill on the first test and would almost certainly support a veto. In the House of Representatives only 19 out of 419 congressmen opposed it and it was sent to the states to be ratified. WASHINGTON, June 17— The House approved and sent to President Nixon today a bill to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 in all Federal, state and local elections beginning in 1971. If anything, I think the voting age should have stayed at 21, because at 21, you have more experience, and know more about how the world works. After the Cabinet meeting two days ago, the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul announced that the cabinet has agreed to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 Prior to that date, the voting age had been 21 in a majority of the states, even though 18 year olds were old enough to get married, work, and were expected to pay taxes as others adults did. WASHINGTON, June 17— The House approved and sent to President Nixon today a bill to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 in all Federal, state and local elections beginning in 1971. Mr. Ford maintained that $6‐billion worth of state, munic ipal and school board bond issues would be placed “in jeopardy” if teen‐agers were allowed to vote on the neces sary referendums before the constitutionality of the voting age statute had been settled by the Supreme Court. Lowering the voting age to 16 would do the same. America's Best History - United States History Timeline 1970-1979. ¶Prohibits literacy tests as a qualification for voting throughout the country. These lowering the voting age to 16 pros and cons must balance the rights of the individual with the needs of each nation. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Democratic backers of the bill, who had believed they could win nar rowly with 45 to 50 Repub lican votes, underestimated their strength in both parties. In 1971, Senator Jennings Randolph, a Democrat of West Virginia, proposed a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age and it unanimously passed the Senate. President Richard M. Nixon signed the amended bill into law, though he argued that Congress did not have the unilateral authority to lower the voting age nationwide. The final vote for approval, 272 to 132, was somewhat larg er than many supporters of the voting package had expected, as many former opponents switched to the popular side. Inclusion of the 18‐to‐20‐ year‐old group in the American electorate, beginning next Jan uary, may not create any great upsurge in the total votes. As certain municipalities and states debate the merits of having teens as young as 16 be able to vote, the pros and cons of lowering the voting age have become a nationwide debate in the United States. The same measure also ex tends until 1975 the Voting Rights Act, which has pro tected registration and voting for Negroes in the South for the last five years. See the article in its original context from. The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18, was passed because of the clear double standard of making 18-year-olds fight for their country when they didn’t have a … In the UK, the voting age was 21, until it was lowered in the year 1970. In 1970, the Supreme Court in Oregon v. Mitchell ruled that Congress had the right to regulate the minimum voting age in federal elections; however, it decided it could not regulate it at local and state level. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. The Voting Rights Act of 1970 lowered the voting age for federal elections and the 26th Amendment to the Constitution extended that right to 18-year-olds in all elections. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Theirs was an early salvo in a movement that would end in 1971 with the ratification of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. When the voting age was lowered to 18 from 21 in 1970, many Canadians were already discussing whether we should stop there. Before that, in a key proce dural test, the pending bill was made the order of the day, by a vote of 224 to 183. Democratic National Chairman, Lawrence F. O'Brien, observed in a statement hailing the House vote that “it is en tirely possible that the new voters of this country will de cide who our next President will be.”. In addition to continuing the voting rights machinery in ef fect in the South for another five years, the bill: ¶Extends the application of the law to Northern cities or counties where literacy tests, are required and less than half the eligible voters voted in 1968. Related Articles I feel a sense of satisfaction that what I had advocated in Parliament in the 1970s – the lowering of the voting age to 18 – has been green-lighted by the Cabinet. In the event the Supreme Court invalidated the lowered voting age, the voting rights provisions of the law would remain in force. The group urged Mr. Nixon to sign the bill. Congress had passed the Voting Rights Act … To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The Senate approved the combined voting rights‐voting age measure by a 64‐to‐17 vote in mid‐March, after Senator Mike Mansfield, the Democratic floor leader, had pressed the successful fight to attach the lowered voting age section. However, during the floor de bate this afternoon the Repub lican minority leader, Repre sentative Gerald R. Ford, ques tioned “whether or not the President could, in good con science, sign the proposal if it should reach his desk.”. The voting age is now 18. In 1946, Czechoslovakia became the first to reduce the age limit to 18. In the Vietnam War, the average age of U.S. soldiers was 19, and a slogan--''Old enough to fight, old enough to die''--gained popularity. On July 5, 1971, President Richard Nixon formally certified the 26th Amendment of the Constitution, which granted 18 year olds the right to vote. 1970 A revised Canada Elections Act lowers the voting age to 18. And for almost 50 years, that debate has been ongoing. On June 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state, and local elections. 18 slowly gained credibility as the ‘adult’ cutoff point after the Second World War, when the US lowered the age for enlisting in the military from 21 to 18 when the war started in the 1940s. In 1970, the United States Congress amended the Voting Rights Act to lower the voting age nationwide to 18. The opposition consisted of 66 Democrats and 117 Republicans. Why is the voting age 18? Census figures show that in 1968 the lowest level of partici pation in the election, 51.1 per cent, was in the 21‐to‐24‐age bracket. In 1970, Congress passed a series of amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of which lowered the national voting … 1982 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms embeds into the Constitution the right of all citizens to vote. Under House rules, debate on concurrence in a Senate passed bill is limited to an hour. Until the 1970s, the voting age in America was 21. Momentum is building around the world to lower the voting age to 16 years. The measure would open the political process to about 11 million young people. The United States of America will soon, with the lowering of voting ages as a resp… I feel a sense of satisfaction that what I had advocated in Parliament in the 1970s – the lowering of the voting age to 18 – has been green-lighted by the Cabinet. On July 5, the 26th Amendment was formally adopted into the Constitution, adding 11 million potential voters to the electorate. Canada lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 back in 1970. If the 18‐year‐old vote sur rives these tests in the White House and the courts, the change could materially re shape American politics at all levels, bringing new issues, new candidates and even new par ties into the system along with new voters. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. If Mr. Nixon does sign the voting bill, there will almost certainly be an immediate test of the constitutionality of low ering the voting age by statute. Mitchell (1970), a deeply divided Supreme Court held that Congress had authority to lower the voting age in federal elections, but lacked power to do so for state and local elections. In the U.K., Edward Millband pledged to lower the voting age to … Only 51 per cent of 3.24 million eligible voters cast ballots in the 2009 B.C. When the result both the first key vote Was announced, the galleries; which were packed with an unusually large num ber of young people, burst into applause, along with some mem bers. Lowering the National Voting Age to 18 With the voting age at that time set at 21 years of age, Senator Kennedy argued that it was wrong that young Americans could be drafted to serve in Vietnam, but could not vote. ¶Establishes uniform resi dence requirements for voting in Presidential elections, under which anyone may vote who has lived in a state or political subdivision for 30 days or more. It took just 100 days to receive the necessary three-fourths majority of state ratification. Most important historical events of each year of the decade of the 1970's listed, including 1971 detail of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, changing the voting age from 21 to 18. Denmark and Austria allow 16-year-olds to vote, as do five regions in Germany. All Rights Reserved. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. This prediction did not deter 59 Republicans from joining 165 Democrats in support of the voting package. BILL TO LOWER VOTING AGE TO 18 BY THE '71 ELECTIONS APPROVED IN HOUSE, 272‐132. https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/voting-age-lowered-video We tell them to work within the system, but the system prevents them from participating.”. Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112, was a Supreme Court case which held that the United States Congress could set voting age requirements for federal elections but not for local or state elections. By giving 18-year-olds the right to vote, it shifted the views of society and arguably changed many elections at the local level because of a shift in demographics. White House sources pre dicted unofficially today that President Nixon would sign the package voting bill despite his public position that the voting age should be, lowered by constitutional amendment rather than by statute. If the lowered voting age were resubmitted to Congress as a constitutional amendment, it would probably take the bet ter part of a year to win ap proval. By 1970, these groups had achieved enough support to convince President Nixon to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1970, lowering the voting age to 18.
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