I am often asked what is your favorite Amendment of the entire Twenty-seventh (XXVII) Amendments. When I say all of them I get this look of doubt. Therefore, I learn to list the Amendments in order as they directly impact me in some special way.
Therefore, I have to say that the Twenty-sixth (XXVI) Amendment starts my list of favorite Amendments. Section 1. 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 State or by any State on account of age.
I felt really empowered when I understood this Amendment and the impact it gave me a citizen. Upon turning eighteen years old I registered to vote. I have voted in every local, state, and federal election that I was eligible because this is how important the Twenty-sixth Amendment is to me.
This amendment stated that I was now considered part of the adult world and that I could make adult decisions. I was already in the United States Army but my mother had to sign in order for me to legally be accepted in the United States Army.
Finally the nation as well as every state agreed with the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment on July 1, 1971 that soldier can not only serve in the military and fight for the nation but also can vote and make adult decisions. In order to understand this, one must remember that this was during the period of the escalation of the Vienam War and the young people wanted a voice to decide the leaders who making a decision to send them off to war.
Congress passed a Voting Right Act in 1970 to set eigtheen as the minimum age for voting in national and state elections because of the broad power of Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
However, in Oregon v. Mitchell (1970), the Supreme Court ruled the law was valid only for national elections so it took Congress proposal of the Twenty-sixth Amendment on March 23, 1971 and three-fourths of the states on July 1, 1971 to give eighteen years old citizens the right to vote. This was the fastest any of the Twenty-seven Amendments ever gave approved.
Thus, you will find why I consider this my favorite Amendment of all. Please stay tune for my other Amendments as I review all the 27 Amendments to the United States Constitution.
Joseph
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