Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Does it Really Make Age Discrimination in the Vote Against Under 18s Constitutional? The Broader Lessons

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Young People’s Human Rights and The Politics of Voting Age

Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice ((IUSGENT,volume 6))

  • 1503 Accesses

Abstract

It is valuable to consider the arguments that were made in the U.S. Congress before and during the Vietnam War era for and against lowering the eligible voting age in U.S. federal and state elections from 21 to 18 years. That debate has implications for understanding of the resistance in contemporary times in most Western and non-Western States to lowering the voting age to 16.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182 at para 63.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Carson C (2003). Civil rights chronicle “The African-American struggle for freedom, id, reference 183 at p. 307.

    Google Scholar 

  3. 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution (ratified 7/9/1868) http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am10. Accessed 14 December, 2009.

  4. Id (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, id reference 69.

    Google Scholar 

  6. 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, id, reference 197.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182 at para 75–76.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Carson C (2003). Civil rights chronicle “The African-American struggle for freedom, id, reference 183 at p. 35.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Id (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Id (15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Id at para 60.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Id (Article 4 to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta [2002] A.J. No. 1544, 2002 ABQB 1086 at para 44, 48.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Id

    Google Scholar 

  15. Id at p. 185.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cultice WW (1992). Youth’s battle for the ballot: A history of voting age in America, id, reference 38.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Id (26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (Tufts University, College of Citizenship and Public Service) (2008). Young voters in the 2008 Presidential election, id, reference 163.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Id (Constitution of the United States, 9th Amendment).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Id

    Google Scholar 

  21. Id at p. 1

    Google Scholar 

  22. Newport F, Jones JM (2008). Young voters favour Obama but how many will vote? Still lag behind older voters on key turnout indicators, Gallup http://www.gallup.com/poll/111310/young-voters-favor-obama-how-many-will-vote.aspx. Accessed 4 November, 2009.

  23. Cheng JD (2008). Uncovering the 26th Amendment, id, reference 155 at p. 4

    Google Scholar 

  24. Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (Tufts University, College of Citizenship and Public Service) (2008). Young voters in the 2008 Presidential election, 24 November, 2008, updated 19 December, 2008 http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS_08_exit_polls.pdf. Accessed 4 November, 2009.

  25. 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, id, reference 197.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (Tufts University, College of Citizenship and Public Service) (2008). Young voters in the 2008 Presidential election, id, reference 163.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Savva GM, Warton SB, Ince PG, Forster G, Mathews FE, Brayne C (2009). Age, neuropathology and dementia. New England Journal of Medicine, 360: 2302–2309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sauve v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) [2002], id, reference 68 at para 38.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Carson C (2003). Civil rights chronicle “The African-American struggle for freedom, id, reference 183 at pp. 28–29.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Harris Interactive (2008). They may not be able to vote, but youth grasp the. value of campaign massages http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1342. Accessed 4 November, 2009.

  31. Ruggeri A (2008). Young voters powered Obama’s victory while shrugging off slacker image (U.S. News and World Report, 6 November, 2008) http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/11/06/young-voters-powered. Accessed 13 December, 2009.

  32. Carson C (2003). Civil rights chronicle “The African-American struggle for freedom. Legacy Publishing, Lincolnwood at p. 185.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Id at para 72.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Id at para 70.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Id

    Google Scholar 

  36. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxv.html. Accessed 15 November, 2009.

  37. Id (Article 4, section 2 to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  38. United States v Reese, id, reference 211.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Volpe JD (Director of Polling, Harvard University, Institute of Politics) cited in Dahl M (2008). Youth vote may have been key in Obama’s win: Young voters had ‘record turnout’, preferred Democrat by wide margin. http://www.mnsbc.msn.com/id/27525497. Accessed 4 November, 2009.

  40. Flegel M (2009). Conceptualizing cruelty to children in nineteenth-century England: Literature, representation and the NSPCC. Ashgate, Burlington at p. 18

    Google Scholar 

  41. Id at p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Id at para 46.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Sauve v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) [2002], id, reference 68.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Id at para 74.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182 at para 43.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Id at p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Id (19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  49. Id (15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  50. 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, id, reference 197.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182 at para 47.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Convention on the Rights of the Child, id, reference 44.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Chan TW, Clayton M (2006). Should the voting age be lowered to sixteen? Normative and empirical considerations, id, reference 134.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Chan TW, Clayton M (2006). Should the voting age be lowered to sixteen? Normative and empirical considerations, id, reference 134.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Carson C (2003). Civil rights chronicle “The African-American struggle for freedom, id, reference 183 at.p33

    Google Scholar 

  56. Id

    Google Scholar 

  57. Id (19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  58. Id at pp. 2–4.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Constitution of the United States (26th Amendment) http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html. Accessed 17 November, 2009.

  60. Sauve v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), id, reference 68, para 37.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Id at p. 5

    Google Scholar 

  62. United States v Reese 92 US, 214 (1875) http://supreme.justia.com/us/92/214/case.html. Accessed 21 November, 2009.

  63. Id

    Google Scholar 

  64. id

    Google Scholar 

  65. Id (26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  66. Id (15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

    Google Scholar 

  67. Id at para 68.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Sauve v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) [2002], id, reference 68

    Google Scholar 

  69. Cheng JD(2008). Uncovering the 26th Amendment. Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Id at pp. 7–8

    Google Scholar 

  71. Sauvé v Canada (Chief Electoral Officer) [2002], id, reference 73 at para 124.

    Google Scholar 

  72. Id, reference 75 at para 58–59.

    Google Scholar 

  73. Cheng JD (2008). Uncovering the 26th amendment, id, reference 155, at p. 6.

    Google Scholar 

  74. Id at p. 17

    Google Scholar 

  75. Vriend v. Alberta [1998] 1 S.C.R. 493 http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1998/1998scr1-493/1998scr1-493.html. Accessed 21 November, 2009.

  76. National exit polls report youth represented 18 percent of voters (CIRCLE press release) Young voters favor Obama over McCain by 66% to 32% http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=321. Accessed 13 December, 2009.

  77. Id (Constitution of the United States, 1rst Amendment).

    Google Scholar 

  78. Reasons for judgment of Justice Lefsrud in Fitzgerald (Next Friend Of) v. Alberta, id, reference 182.

    Google Scholar 

  79. Id at pp. 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Education, Lakehead University, Oliver Road 955, P7B 5E1, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

    Prof. Sonja C. Grover

Authors
  1. Prof. Sonja C. Grover
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonja C. Grover .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Grover, S.C. (2011). The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Does it Really Make Age Discrimination in the Vote Against Under 18s Constitutional? The Broader Lessons. In: Young People’s Human Rights and The Politics of Voting Age. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8963-2_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation