The Twenty-sixth Amendment established 18 as the minimum voting age for U.S. elections.
Congress proposed the amendment in March 1971, and the states ratified it rapidly. It became part of the Constitution on July 1, 1971, after the required three-fourths of the states approved it.
The movement gained momentum during the Vietnam War era. Supporters argued that citizens who could be drafted for military service at 18 should also be able to vote. Before the amendment, many states set their voting age at 21, although some had already lowered it for particular elections.
The amendment standardized the voting age for state and federal elections. It is sometimes confused with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which addressed racial discrimination in voting rather than establishing a national age requirement.