A group of House Democrats introduced legislation Thursday that would lower the voting age in the U.S. from 18 to 16 years old.
The joint resolution was introduced by New York Rep. Grace Meng and states “the right of citizens of the United States, who are sixteen 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.” The joint resolution has 12 cosponsors.
The 26th Amendment only allows citizens 18 years old and up to vote. This joint resolution would change that.
A Washington, D.C., suburb is also considering lowering the voting age to 16 without regard to citizenship.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has told the Daily Caller she is in favor of lowering the voting age to 16.
“I myself, personally, I’m not speaking for my caucus, I myself have always been for lowering the voting age to 16,” Pelosi told the Caller in 2019. “I think it’s really important to capture kids when they’re in high school when they’re interested in all of this when they’re learning about government to be able to vote.” (RELATED: 125 Democrats And 1 Republican Vote To Lower Voting Age To 16)
READ THE LEGISLATION HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
In 2019, Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced an amendment called the “For The People Act,” but it was struck down in a 126-305 vote. Her amendment also called for the federal voting age to be lowered from 18 to 16. Several Democrats have come out in favor of the idea. (RELATED: 2020 Dems Open To Lowering Voting Age To 16)
The other Democrats who cosponsored the legislation included Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Jamaal Bowman, Sean Casten, Adriano Espaillat, Barbara Lee, Seth Moulton, Ayanna Pressley, Jan Schakowsky, Rashida Tlaib, Lori Trahan and Alexandria-Ocasio-Cortez.