[EL] could tougher voting laws squelch the youth vote

[Robbin Stewart]

Have there ever been any cases on the 26th Amendment? (right of 18 year
olds to vote.)

I can't think of any offhand. I'm wondering what the standard of review
would be. I'm thinking of situations where there's an argument some
procedure infringes on the voting rights of 18-21 year olds,  short of an
absolute ban. For example a rule that blocked college students from voting
from their dorm addresses might raise a claim (setting aside that this
issue can be addressed as a due process or equal protection claim.) Another
example might be in Indiana where those over 65 can vote absentee without
cause, but 18-21 year olds cannot (and thus are disparately impacted by
voter ID rules.)

This is a hypothetical question; I don't know any 18-21 year old voters in
this position. Such a case might win a footnote in some future edition of
an election law casebook. I really have no idea how a court would approach
it; perhaps they would require overt intent to discriminate; perhaps they
would only address cases that specifically textually single out the 18-21
group. I'm not sure the supreme court would find this question certworthy.
I invite speculation.

>  “Could tougher voting laws squelch the youth vote?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38079>
> Posted on August 4, 2012 10:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38079> by Rick
> Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> AP<http://electionlawblog.org/Could%20tougher%20voting%20laws%20squelch%20the%20youth%20vote?%20%20Read%20more:%20http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Could-tougher-voting-laws-squelch-the-youth-vote-3762386.php#ixzz22bLGD7B9>:
> “Gone are the days when young voters weren’t taken seriously. In 2008, they
> helped propel Barack Obama<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Barack+Obama%22>into the Oval
> Office<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Oval+Office%22>,
> supporting him by a 2-1 margin. But that higher profile also has landed
> them in the middle of the debate over some state laws that regulate voter
> registration and how people identify themselves at the polls. Since the
> last election, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Wisconsin and Texas and other states
> have tried to limit or ban the use of student IDs as voter identification.
> In Florida, lawmakers tried to limit “third party” organizations, including
> student groups, from registering new voters.”
>
> More:
>
> The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with students on this issue and their
> ability to vote where they attend school, even when they’ve come from
> another state.
>
> “So students should be registering in the communities that they feel are
> home — whether that’s their parents’ home or their apartment or their dorm
> room,” says Lee Rowland, counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan
> Center for Justice, a nonpartisan legal think tank in New York. “It is a
> constitutional right to vote.”
>
> To help them understand that right, she says the Brennan Center created an
> online guide for students with pages that detail voting rules and
> requirements in each state — http://bit.ly/Pl1pbE
>
>
>
>   “Survey cites difficulties getting Pa. voter ID”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38076>
>  “The Essential Facts of Pennsylvania’s Voter ID Trial”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=38016>
>
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