The Twenty-Sixth Amendment states, “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.” Essentially, it prohibits states from discriminating against voters who are at least 18 years old, and, under Article 2, grants Congress the power to “enforce” this law through “appropriate legislation.”
Triggered by the expansion of the drafting age from 21 to 35 to 18 to 45 as a result of World War II (1939-1945), Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia—conveniently dubbed “Father of the 26th Amendment”—introduced the legislation in the early 1940s, hoping to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. The discrepancy in drafting and voting ages led to the popular slogan “old enough to fight, old enough to vote,” a motto that grew in popularity throughout the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Congress, under pressure, enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1970, which lowered the voting age to 18 for all federal, state, and local elections.
However, as President Richard Nixon signed the act into law, he also voiced his concerns about Congress overreaching its power, stating, “Congress has no power to enact it by simple statute.” Rather, he called for Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution. The Supreme Court upheld Nixon’s position in Oregon v. Mitchell (1970), which debated the legality of the Voting Rights Act of 1970; arguing the federal government has the power to control voting requirements for federal elections—enforcing the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—but not in state or local elections. With a heavy split of 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled that the Act was an overreach of Congressional power.
Facing the need to hold two separate elections for federal and state offices, many states were receptive to a proposal of a constitutional amendment to establish a minimum age of 18 for all elections. Congress officially proposed the amendment after having passed both the House and Senate on March 23, 1971. It was then quickly ratified by the states on July 1, 1971—making it the fastest amendment to be ratified, taking only 100 days—and on July 5th, 1971, President Richard Nixon officially signed the Twenty-Sixth Amendment into law.