Topic: Constitutionality of voting age?
Amendment IV: The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.
Amendment XXVI:
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any other state on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Together, these articles seem to suggest that citizens under 18 are not banned from voting. The 26th amendment only says that those over 18 can vote, not that those under 18 cannot.
(Amendment XIV, 1868) “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This is the crux of my argument. As implied by “The United States or any other state” (see above), The United States as a whole can be considered a state. Therefore, even a federal law that abridges the privileges of citizens (children included) is unconstitutional. Voting is, of course, a privilege.
I will soon be in contact with a lawyer for the purposes of litigating this case, but in the meantime, I want input. Do we think that this is a strong enough case?
