Blog

On March 9, 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy spoke to the importance of lowering the voting age to 18 in testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments: "By lowering the voting age we will improve the overall quality of our electorate, and make it more truly representative of our society. By adding our youth to the electorate, we will gain a group of enthusiastic, sensitive, idealistic and vigorous new voters." In 2008, young people embodied the spirit of Kennedy's words, voting in historic records to elect President Barack Obama.

Just twenty-three years old, Tobin Van Ostern is a trail blazer in the political social media world. Back in 2006, at the age of 18, he partnered with Students for Barack Obama to help 80 online chapters grow to more than 1,000 online and offline chapters across the nation by 2008.

Like so many Americans, the three words that got Max O'Beirne motivated to become politically active were "Yes, we can." Yet O'Beirne was only 15 years old at the time—not old enough to drive, much less cast a vote.

Twenty-two year old Zaid Jilani was born and raised in Georgia and is first-generation American--his parents were born in Pakistan. Zaid is a voter, activist, blogger, and founding member of the University of Georgia’s first progressive newspaper, “Stand Up.” His on-campus activism around the Iraq War and use of online tools brought him to the attention of the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress (CAP). CAP awarded Zaid a grant to establish the campus newspaper and later hired him to write for the Think Progress blog.

Charlene Carruthers was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago in the "Back of the Yards" neighborhood, famously organized by an emerging progressive movement in the 1930s. Charlene didn't learn of the neighborhoods famed lineage until she entered college, but nevertheless credits her upbringing for shaping the organizing work she does today.

Today, marks the 40th anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Though it only took 100 days to ratify the amendment, the battle to lower the voting age was years in the making.