New Jersey • 1969–1971

Stuart Goldstein

Lowering the voting age

Role-play summaryI helped start the Voting Age Coalition of New Jersey because I believe young people are affected by public policy. I would argue younger citizens deserve a voice in elections.

What forces are at play?

The campaign to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew during the Vietnam era, when many Americans focused on the contradiction between being old enough for military service and too young to vote. Youth organizers pressed state and federal officials, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified in 1971, prohibiting age-based denial of the vote to citizens 18 and older.

How can this shape elections?

Expanding eligibility does not automatically produce high turnout. New voters still need registration, information, convenient polling options, and reasons to believe their participation matters. This role invites discussion of how political systems respond when a newly enfranchised age group enters the electorate and how parties, schools, and civic organizations try to reach them.

Carry these questions into the activity

What rule, barrier, or source of power matters most from this person’s point of view?
Who gains political voice — and who loses it — because of the way the election system works here?