Welsh+Period+1+Amendment+26

Period 1 Welsh

By: Dominique, Sam and Wilyem
= Amendment 26 : = **What it says** :
 * 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 States or by any State on account of age.
 * Section 2.** The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

has the power to enforce the law.
 * What this means:** Any United States citizen 18 or older has the right to vote Congress

"Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" was a catchphrase of the '60s during the Vietnam war. Many solders were getting drafted or volunteered to fight for the country. Some people felt it was unfair that 18 year old could go fight, yet not have a say in the government. Many stilled believed 18 was just too young. The requirements for a good soldier and for a good voter are not the same," said one 1967 Times editorial. "For the soldier, youthful enthusiasm and physical endurance are of primary importance; for the voter, maturity of judgment far outweighs other qualifications." Even though the fighting for the law prevailed. The amendment had quick ratification. It became the fastest approved amendment, taking 107 days, and 18 year old to 20 year old got a new found right to vote. It was offically ratified on July 1, 1971. 

Questions:  
Q- What year was this amendment ratified? A- July 1, 1971       Q-Why was this amendment brought up? A-In the Vietnam war, soldiers didn't think it was fair that if they were able to enlist at the age of 18, why wouldn't they be able to vote at that age as well. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Q-Who was the president when this amendment was ratified? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A-Richard Nixon was the president from 1969 through 1974 and thus president then. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Q-What states did not support the law at first? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A- Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah were all the states that did not support the 26th amendment when it was proposed, they called the act unconstitutional. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Q- What would an 18 year old base their vote on? A- Sometimes an 18 year old might base their vote who their parents voted for. At other times they might try and vote agianst who their parents voted for. So an 18 year old might base the person they vote for from their parents. Or they might be educated enough to know the issues and vote for what they beleive is right. Parents probably are a strong influence though.

Q- What were the claims for the amendment to be ratified and against? A- The claims for the amendment was the quote " Old enough to fight, old enough to vote." That quote was made during the Vietnam war when 18 year old could fight but were forbid to vote. Student all around America started to protest. They believed that they should be able to express themselves in the polls. The claims agianst the 26th amendment were that this proposed law was unconstitutional. Many sceptics beleived the qualities of a good soldier are different from the qualites of a good voter.

Q- When was the amendment first proposed? A- Congress first propoesed the law in the 1970's, March 23, 1971 to be exact.

Q- Are there any states today that don't allow 18 year olds to vote in an election? A- No amendments are add ons to the Constitution, the Constitution MUST be followed by the whole country.

Q- Was there any difference in the election after the new amendment was ratified? A- There were millions of more young voters.

Q- Are there any arguments now for bringing the voting age even lower now? A- There definetly are. There are people who want to voting age to 16 rather then 18. Some are even trying to get 14 year old to vote.

==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The amendment is still in use today: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">[|http://www.nytimes.com/] == <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">**Title: __Youth Turnout Up by 2 Million From 2004__ Author: Michael Falcone Date: November 5, 2008**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">**All the work that Barack Obama did to try and get young people to vote for him payed off. Two million new, young voters came to the polls to vote. This is the biggest turnout since the election of 1972; a year after the 26 amendment was ratified. Eighteen to twenty-nine was the key people that Barack Obama tried to get votes from. Many volunteers went to college campuses and told people on their towns about Barack Obama. Other organizations like "Rock the Vote" were also encouraging the youth to vote. “No longer can pundits and politicians say we don’t vote,” Ms. Smith, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement trumpeting the youth turnout numbers. President Obama was very greatful for the turnout he said "..... (the campain) grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy, who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.” The online site of Facebook did an online poll and it showed that 2.4 million users had signed up as supporters of Mr. Obama compared to Senator McCain's 624,000. The 26 amendment was a huge factor in what is now President Obama's presidency. If the amendment wasn't passed, the election, in my opinion, would be much different. This article shows how important an amendment passed almost three decades ago in still in use today.** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">**By: Sam**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> [|news.findlaw.com]
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">**Title: __18-29 Year Old Voters Propel Obama To Victory__ Date: Nov. 5, 2008

This article is about the outstanding support from youths for president-elect Barack Obama. Eric Greenberg, the author of //"Generation We: How Millennial Youth Are Taking Over America And Changing Our World Forever"// said, "The race would have been extremely close had the youth vote not been so active." Polls show that youth voters supported the Obama/Biden plan 34% more than the McCain/Palin. It was youth people who kept this election out of reach for McCain. Who knows what this election would have turned out to be if 18-29 year old weren't allowed to vote. This election was very important for the youth voters. Comparing to the 2004 election, this election had 21.6 million-23.9 million youth voters. That is over a 2.2 million difference of youths that voted in the two elections! I think that this article is perfect for someone that wants to learn about how youth voters. I also think that this is a great article for people that want to learn about the amendments because this article mainly focuses on one of the last amendments. Lastly, I like this article because it focuses on the past election. So if people want to learn about this amendment using something that may interest them and help them focus on the reading, this would be a great article. That is what this article was about and that is why I think this is a great article for some people.

By: Dominique**

[|guardian.co.uk]
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">**Author:Micheal White Title:Allowing 16 year old is neither wise nor sensible Date:July 29, 2008 Some people are making the case that 16 year old are old enough to vote for president. But Micheal White disagrees. He not only thinks that 16 year old shouldn't vote but he thinks that the age should be risen up to 25 years old. The reason that Micheal White says this is because that he didn't get to vote until he was 23 years old. He didn't feel ready in voting for president. So since he didn't feel ready he thinks that everybody else has the same feelings as him and wait till their 25. I disagree with Micheal White. I feel raising the age to 25 would be one of the stupidest things America has ever done. Right next to voting George W. Bush into office for two terms.I think that if we were to raise the age of voting there would be riots, which would cause property damage, which would add to the country's economic woes. I also think that it would be smart to lower the voting age. If we lower the voting age we would be giving 16 year old a sense of importance, and maybe criminal ratings would go down. I think that Micheal White should maybe consider that there are some very smart teens before pitching the idea to congress that we should raise the age of voting. All together I do not agree with what Micheal White believes about the 26th amendment.** =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">**By:William** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">