The Vote: Youth Movement

For a nation that has historically concerned itself with enlarging the electorate, the U.S. has always treated one large group of citizens with curious neglect. Over the years, five major groups have been added to the voting ranks: the landless (under the Constitution), Negroes (1870), women (1920), Washingtonians (1961) and refugees from the poll tax (1964). Yet America, a nation obsessed with youth, with nearly half its population under 25, does not let a citizen vote until he is 21.* An 18-year-old can be drafted, and he can be held fully responsible...