SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS
AGE OF SUFFRAGE IN THE UNITED STATES1
A SUMMARY OF PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS
ALL BASED ON RANDOM NATIONAL SAMPLES
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Yes,
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No,
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No answer,
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For,
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Against,
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Don't know,
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Favor
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Oppose
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No opinion
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Do you favor reducing the age at which
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American citizens can vote from twenty-
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one to eighteen? (GALLUP)
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1939: May 18
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17%
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79%
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4%
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By age:
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21-29 years
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17
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83
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30-49 years
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17
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83
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50 years and over
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18
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82
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At the present time, American citizens can-
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not vote until they become twenty-one
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years of age. Would you favor changing
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the law to allow men and women eighteen,
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nineteen, and twenty years old to vote?
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(GALLUP)
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1943: January 15
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39
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52
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9
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By age:
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21-29 years
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41
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53
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9*
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30-49 years
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38
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52
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10
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50 years and over
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37
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52
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11
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1943: April 9
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42
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52
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6
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Congress may be called upon to consider
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a constitutional amendment to allow per-
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sons eighteen, nineteen, and twenty years
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old to vote in elections. Would you like
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to have your Congresman vote for or
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against this proposal? (GALLUP)
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1943: August 17
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52
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42
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6
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1 Reproduced by the Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress, with the permission
of Hazel Erskine, Polls Editor, public opinion quarterly.
*Does not add to 100%. Taken from H. cantril, public opinion 1935-1946 (1951).
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