Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., has put forward a joint resolution to amend the Constitution so that 16-year-olds can vote.
The 26th Amendment holds that the voting rights of citizens 18 years and older “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State.”
Meng’s resolution would repeal the 26th Amendment, and create a new amendment that says the right to vote of anyone who is 16 years or old “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State.”
The 26th Amendment was the result of decades of argument that anyone old enough to be drafted to fight in the military at age 18 should also be able to vote. Support for that idea picked up steam during the Vietnam war.
Because the Supreme Court ruled that Congress cannot regulate voting age in state and local elections, the Constitution was amended 1971 to hold that 18-year-olds could vote nationwide.
As of this week, Meng had not released a statement explaining why 16-year-olds should be able to vote.
