The 26^th Amendment was passed by Congress March 23, 1971, and ratified July 1, 1971. Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.

• AMENDMENT XXVI: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen 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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

“The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, allowing millions of young people to participate actively in the democratic process and to have a powerful voice in shaping their political future.

The first rumblings to lower the voting age emerged in the midst of the Vietnam War, with student demonstrations running strong. The slogan “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote,” gained popularity and some groups, including student members of the California Teachers Association (CTA), hoped to change the system from within.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon passed the Voting Rights Act, which called for the voting age to be 18. The Senate voted 94-0 to pass the resolution, and 13 days later, on March 23, 1971, the House voted in favor. Within four months, the amendment was ratified by the required three-fourths of state legislatures. It was the fastest time any proposed amendment has been pressed forward, and President Nixon signed it into law in July.

Millions of 18, 19 and 20 year olds could now vote in the 1972 presidential election. They, and the young activists who fought for the change, paved the way for future generations of young people to exercise their political voices.” (Excerpts from http://democracyday.com/the-26th-amendment.html

HR Strategies strongly advocates for all to vote in our upcoming elections this November.  Please remember that your vote counts in electing our public officials who determine our laws, including those regarding commerce, and human resource issues. If you haven’t registered to vote, you may do so at http://www.presidentialelection.com/register_to_vote/. Additionally, as an employer are you making it possible for your employees to vote. Georgia code 21-2-404 reads as such:

Affording employees time off to vote

Each employee in this state shall, upon reasonable notice to his or her employer, be permitted by his or her employer to take any necessary time off from his or her employment to vote in any municipal, county, state, or federal political party primary or election for which such employee is qualified and registered to vote on the day on which such primary or election is held; provided, however, that such necessary time off shall not exceed two hours; and provided, further, that, if the hours of work of such employee commence at least two hours after the opening of the polls or end at least two hours prior to the closing of the polls, then the time off for voting as provided for in this Code section shall not be available. The employer may specify the hours during which the employee may absent himself or herself as provided in this Code section. (The law does not specify whether time off is to be paid)

HR Strategies advises employers to have set company policies, listed in their employee handbooks, which set forth how the employer deals with taking time off for voting.  If you need assistance with your employees’ right to vote, or construction of employee policies and handbooks, contact HR Strategies at 770-339-0000.