The Pittsburgh Press (September 14, 1944)
Background of news –
The voting age
By F. M. Brewer
Election returns in November will include, for the first time in the history of the United States, a count of ballots cast by 18- to 20-year-old voters. Under a state constitutional amendment adopted in 1943, citizens of Georgia who have passed their 18th birthdays will go to the polls as voters in this year’s national election.
Their addition to the electorate of a solidly Democratic state will not affect the outcome, but their participation in choice of the next President will be of national significance as marking a trend toward enfranchisement of younger men and women.
Eight resolutions for amendment of the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age are pending before the judiciary committees of the House and Senate. These committees have also before them three proposed amendments to abolish the Electoral College and provide for choice of the President by direct vote of the people.
Should any one of these latter proposals become a part of the Constitution, a rapid enfranchisement of 18-year-olds could be expected to follow. Any state which failed to grant the ballot to its younger citizens, after a few other states had acted, would suffer a loss of influence in choice of the country’s Chief Executive.
Teachers favor change
Chief backing for a change in the voting age is found among teachers in public schools. Educational organizations have been urged by the Journal of the National Education Association to give their full support to both state and national action to give the young a voice in choosing government officials and determining public policy.
The argument of educators is that the training high school pupils receive today amply prepares them to vote intelligently, and that a gap of several years between leaving school and exercise of the franchise tends toward a loss of the interest and enthusiasm which they are prepared to bring to the electorate.
Political leaders at present appear reluctant to enfranchise a body of young people who presumably would become independent voters. Groups wielding political power, such as the veteran and labor organizations, have shown no inclination to press the issue.
So far as the veterans are concerned, the younger men now serving in the Armed Forces soon will have reached the normal voting age of 21. Many young people at work today are expected to return to school or college and the remainder would not add significantly to labor’s political power.
Support from three parties
Among individual leaders in public life who have endorsed efforts to reduce the voting age are Frank C. Walker, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and two Democratic state governors – Georgia Governor Ellis G. Arnall, whose support was largely responsible for adoption of the 18-year-old vote in his state, and South Carolina Governor Olin D. Johnston.
Senator Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI) was the first to introduce a resolution in the Senate for a federal constitutional amendment to give the vote to 18-year-olds, and Norman Thomas, Socialist candidate for President, has announced his support.
Mr. Vandenberg said:
If young men are to be drafted at 18 years of age to fight for their government, they ought to be entitled to vote at 18 years of age for the kind of government for which they are best satisfied to fight.
Mr. Thomas said there was certainly no magic in 21 to give wisdom to voters:
I wish we could find magic to give them wisdom at any age, but boys and girls compelled to face war so realistically at 18 should be given a vote.