45 Years Ago, Americans As Young As 18 Gained The Right To Vote (July 01,1971 -July 01,2016)

45 Years Ago, Americans As Young As 18 Gained The Right To Vote

The voting age was lowered to 18 from 21 across the United States 45 years ago this week with the ratification of the 26th Amendment.

The final push leading to the amendment began during the Vietnam War 

Many Americans argued that it wasn’t right to allow men as young as 18 to be drafted, yet deny them the right to vote. 

Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1970 and President Richard Nixon signed it, but the law was quickly brought before the Supreme Court.

The Court ruled that the law applied only to Federal Elections, not state and local ones. A constitutional amendment would be required to guarantee voting rights across the board for people as young as 18.

So Congress passed the 26th Amendment. In accordance with the Constitution, three-fourths of the states, or 38, needed to approve the amendment for it to be ratified. 

 Alabama, Ohio and North Carolina all voted to approve ratification on June 30. When North Carolina’s approval process was completed on July 1, 1971, it became the 38th state to approve the amendment, which then officially went into effect, said Christine Blackerby, co-curator of the “Amending America” exhibit at the National Archives Museum.