In this clip of oral arguments from the Supreme Court case Oregon v. Mitchell, Oregon Attorney General Lee Johnson frames the case about whether Congress has the power to decide the voting age for the states.
In April of 1970, Congress had controversially lowered the voting age to 18 as part of legislation to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. The act was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and 1982.
Many people believed that it was the right of the states, not the federal government, to set the voting age. The states of Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, and Texas sued, claiming infringement on states rights as outlined in the Constitution.
On December 21, 1970, in Oregon v. Mitchell, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its bounds in lowering the voting age through legislation, and that Congress could only legislate voting laws in federal elections, not state and local elections.
Fearing mass confusion over who could vote in the 1972 election, Congress quickly moved to pass the 26th Amendment that would give 18-year-olds the right to vote. Ratification by the states was accomplished in a record four months.
