For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1; 117th Congress)/Division A/Title II/Subtitle I

by John Sarbanes

SEC. 2801. - FINDINGS RELATING TO YOUTH VOTING.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The right to vote is a fundamental right of citizens of the United States.

(2) The twenty-sixth amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that “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.”.

(3) The twenty-sixth amendment of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to enforce the amendment by appropriate legislation.

(4) The language of the twenty-sixth amendment closely mirrors that of the fifteenth amendment and the nineteenth amendment. Like those amendments, the twenty-sixth amendment not only prohibits denial of the right to vote but also prohibits any actions that abridge the right to vote.

(5) Youth voter suppression undercuts participation in our democracy by introducing arduous obstacles to new voters and discouraging a culture of democratic engagement.

(6) Voting is habit forming, and allowing youth voters unobstructed access to voting ensures that more Americans will start a life-long habit of voting as soon as possible.

(7) Youth voter suppression is a clear, persistent, and growing problem. The actions of States and political subdivisions resulting in at least four findings of twenty-sixth amendment violations as well as pending litigation demonstrate the need for Congress to take action to enforce the twenty-sixth amendment.

(8) In League of Women Voters of Florida, Inc. v. Detzner (2018), the United States District Court in the Northern District of Florida found that the Secretary of State’s actions that prevented in-person early voting sites from being located on university property revealed a stark pattern of discrimination that was unexplainable on grounds other than age and thus violated university students’ twenty-sixth Amendment rights.

(9) In 2019, Michigan agreed to a settlement to enhance college-age voters’ access after a twenty-sixth amendment challenge was filed in federal court. The challenge prompted the removal of a Michigan voting law which required first time voters who registered by mail or through a third-party voter registration drive to vote in person for the first time, as well as the removal of another law which required the address listed on a voter’s driver license to match the address listed on their voter registration card.

(10) Youth voter suppression tactics are often linked to other tactics aimed at minority voters. For example, students at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a historically black university in Texas, have been the targets of voter suppression tactics for decades. Before the 2018 election, PVAMU students sued Waller County on the basis of both racial and age discrimination over the County’s failure to ensure equal early voting opportunities for students, spurring the County to reverse course and expand early voting access for students.

(11) The more than 25 million United States citizens ages 18-24 deserve equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process as guaranteed by the twenty-sixth amendment.