PRINTER'S NO. 1999
No. 237 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, DENT, BODACK, C. WILLIAMS, TARTAGLIONE,
O'PAKE, WAGNER, SCHWARTZ, MUSTO, STOUT, ERICKSON, EARLL AND
GREENLEAF, MAY 7, 2002
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 7, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing the 31st anniversary of Pennsylvania's ratification
2 of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
3 States, which lowered the voting age to 18, and urging
4 Pennsylvania's youngest voters to observe this anniversary by
5 exercising their right to vote in the upcoming 2002
6 elections.
7 WHEREAS, Prior to the ratification of the 26th Amendment in
8 1971, citizens were required to be at least 21 years of age in
9 order to vote; and
10 WHEREAS, It took 100 days to get the states to ratify the
11 26th Amendment; and
12 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania became one of 39 states to ratify the
13 26th Amendment when the General Assembly voted for ratification
14 on April 27, 1971; and
15 WHEREAS, Passage of this constitutional amendment was spurred
16 by massive protests in the 1960s by students and other young
17 people regarding the war in Vietnam which led them to argue: "If
18 we're old enough to fight, we're old enough to vote"; and
19 WHEREAS, Ratification was completed on July 1, 1971; and
1 WHEREAS, On July 4, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the
2 26th Amendment into law by saying, "The reason ... new voters
3 will do so much for America at home is that you will infuse into
4 this country some idealism, some courage, some stamina, some
5 high moral purpose, that this nation always needs"; and
6 WHEREAS, In 1972, 626,000 new voters 18 to 20 years of age
7 were able to cast ballots for the first time in Pennsylvania;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, Studies show a disturbing trend of steady decline in
10 voting in the United States, which began the 20th century with a
11 75% turnout in the 1902 presidential election; and
12 WHEREAS, In 2000, 51% of Americans exercised their right to
13 vote in one of the closest presidential elections in our
14 history; and
15 WHEREAS, Political inaction and voter apathy are dangerous to
16 our democracy; therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the 31st anniversary of
18 Pennsylvania's ratification of the 26th Amendment to the
19 Constitution of the United States, which lowered the voting age
20 to 18; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That the Senate urge Pennsylvania's youngest voters
22 to observe this anniversary by exercising their right to vote in
23 the upcoming 2002 elections.
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