Voting+Rights

26th Amendment

This amendment was passed during the Vietnam War, a time of nationwide anti-war protests and social unrest. The United States was bitterly divided over the war.

There were endless protests over the draft—being called up for military service. All males over the age of 18 were eligible for the draft. But the minimum voting age was 21. It was widely considered unfair that these 18-year-olds were eligible for military service, and therefore old enough to fight and die for their country, but didn’t have the right to vote.

The 14th Amendment had guaranteed the right to vote, in non-direct language, to 21-year-old men. This was the basis of the general rule that you had to be 21 to vote.

After much political debate and a Supreme Court case (in which the justices’ opinions were divided), Congress finally lowered the national voting age to 18. In the 26th Amendment, the minimum age was set at 18 for both state and national elections. It was ratified in July 1971.

It should be noted that the 26th Amendment allows for states to lower the voting age to 17 or even 16, if they so wish. This amendment is a sort of national guideline. There has been some misunderstanding about this, and some disagreement, since some people don’t think that 18-year-olds are mature enough to vote, and shouldn’t have the right. But most citizens approve of it.

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Voting Acts of 1965

The 1965 Voting Rights Act was a natural follow on to the [|1964 Civil Rights Act]. Ironically, the [|1964 Act]had resulted in an outbreak of violence in the South. White racists had launched a campaign against the success that [|Martin Luther King] had had in getting African Americans to register to vote. The violence reminded Johnson that more was needed if the [|civil rights] issue was to be suitably reduced. Johnson introduced to Congress the idea of a Voting Rights Act in what is considered to be one of his best speeches:
 * **"Rarely are we met with a challenge…..to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved Nation. The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such as an issue…..the command of the Constitution is plain. It is wrong - deadly wrong - to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country."** ||

With his commitment to the cause, Congress realised that Johnson would not back down on this issue and if they hindered or failed to back it, Americans would view the failure to be one by Congress alone. The Act was passed. It outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes as a way of assessing whether anyone was fit or unfit to vote. As far as Johnson was concerned, all you needed to vote was American citizenship and the registration of your name on an electoral list. No form of hindrance to this would be tolerated by the law courts. The impact of this act was dramatic. By the end of 1966, only 4 out of the traditional 13 Southern states, had less than 50% of African Americans registered to vote. By 1968, even hard-line Mississippi had 59% of African Americans registered. In the longer term, far more African Americans were elected into public office. The Act was the boost that the civil rights cause needed to move it swiftly along and Johnson has to take full credit for this. As [|Martin Luther King] had predicted in earlier years, demonstrations served a good purpose but real change would only come through the power of Federal government. Johnson proved this. V Sanders has called what he did as a "legislative revolution". Johnson had one break in that he worked with a Congress that had a majority of Democrats serving in it and as a Democrat president both could work well together. In 1968, another Civil Rights Act was passed which prohibited racial discrimination in the sale or rental of houses. Signs such as "Negroes need not apply" were no longer tolerated in a society becoming more and more traumatised by the Vietnam War.

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