LOWERING THE MINIMUM VOTING AGE
different states, is frequently over
eighteen. Certain professions, among
them law and medicine, all have age
qualifications above eighteen."28
". . . Under the law, a person under
21 cannot legally enter into a valid
contract. Yet, by reducing the voting
age to 18, he who cannot legally act
for himself can contract to bind the
country. . . ."29
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". . . Down there [in Georgia, which
has lowered the voting age minimum
to 18] you have many inconsistencies.
They let them vote, but they can't
make a contract. They can't have in-
heritances without guardians. They
cannot sell a cow or a mule or a horse;
they cannot exchange their car be-
cause they can't make a contract.
They cannot serve on juries. They
cannot do things that we ordinarily
have people over 21 do. . . ."30
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E. The voting booth should not be considered a training ground for citizenship.
The suffrage should be restricted to those who are mature enough to assume the
full responsibility of citizenship.
One argument frequently advanced
for the 18 year old vote is that the
only way to learn about American
politics is through participation; that
is, if the 18 year old begins to partici-
pate in politics at that age, he learns
much more readily than if he waits
until later on. If that argument is
valid, young men would be put into
the first line of the football team right
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at the very beginning, instead of be-
ing given a long training and practice
beforehand. Football and voting are
very different matters, but the more
schooling a man has — the more ex-
perience a person has — before he ex-
ercises this privilege, rather than a
right of voting, the better he will per-
form. . . ."31
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F. Lowering the voting age to 18 would have a harmful effect on higher education.
"I am not convinced that the age
requirement for voting should be low-
ered to 18. One thing in particular
that makes me move slowly is the
thought of the political organizations
moving into our college campuses,
which they would do with a venge-
ance if the students were voters. I
28 Statement of Representative Thomas B.
Curtis, supra note 1.
29 Statement by W. C. B. Lambert, supra
note 1.
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would much prefer to leave the first
four years of higher education free
from these mundane tangles. There
is time enough to get into the
struggle."32
30 Statement of Representative Emanuel
Celler, D. of New York, supra note 1 .
31 Dr. Kenneth W. Colegrove, Professor of
Political Science, Northwestern Univ., Con-
gressional Digest, March, 1954.
32 Statement of Representative Thomas B.
Curtis.
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