Twenty-Sixth Amendment
CLEP American Government, Chapter 40
Twenty-Sixth Amendment
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment prohibits the United States and the states from denying or abridging the right to vote of citizens who are eighteen or older on account of age. Ratified in 1971, it established eighteen as the national voting-age ceiling for federal, state, and local elections. A government may not require a citizen to be twenty-one before voting.
The amendment grew out of pressure to align voting rights with the responsibilities placed on young adults, especially during the Vietnam era. Its rapid ratification followed legal uncertainty about whether Congress could set the voting age for every type of election by statute. The amendment resolved the matter through a clear constitutional rule.
Do not read the provision too broadly. It protects against age-based denial once a citizen is eighteen; it does not erase registration deadlines, residency rules, or other generally applicable election procedures. On a CLEP question, the decisive clue is a voting restriction aimed at otherwise qualified citizens between eighteen and twenty-one.
Video lesson: Voting rights | Political participation | US government and civics | Khan Academy
Related to This Article
More math articles
- The Best Grade 6 ELA Practice Tests for Kansas Students
- The Best Grade 3 ELA Practice Tests for Montana Students
- The Ultimate ParaPro Math Course (+FREE Worksheets & Tests)
- Quadratic Equation Solver (Free Step-by-Step Tool)
- FREE 8th Grade SBAC Math Practice Test
- Seventh Grade Writing: Argument, Informative, and Narrative Expectations Explained
- How to Solve Angle Measurements Word Problems
- How to Solve Double Angle Identities?
- Balancing Math Assignments and Academic Papers: Tips for Busy Students
- The Best Grade 7 ELA Practice Tests for Hawaii Students
What people say about "Twenty-Sixth Amendment - Effortless Math"?
No one replied yet.