The Twenty-Sixth Amendment Enforcement Power

This Article argues that the Twenty-Sixth Amendment did more than just lower the voting age. It also gave Congress the power to override state policies that disproportionately burden the voting rights of particular age groups, such as strict voter ID laws and onerous absentee ballot rules for overseas soldiers. The Article reasons from the Amendment’s text and history, focusing on how the Twenty-Sixth Amendment parallels the Reconstruction Amendments, and how the Twenty-Sixth Amendment was generated by the political and jurisprudential battle over the Voting Rights Act. The Article also considers how a stronger Twenty-Sixth Amendment fits into current constitutional law