[EL] The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, federal financial assistance for elections administration, and state law restrictions on voting ineligibility based on age

[Robin Chen]

Thanks for these responses so far. Please continue.

Upon closer reading, probably this 'criteria for participation' within the
Age Discrimination Act of 1975 is why..
"(2) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any program or
activity established under authority of any law which...(B) establishes
criteria for participation in age-related terms or describes intended
beneficiaries or target groups in such terms."

However, it seems circular for 'age' to be a 'criteria for participation'
allowable within an Age Discrimination law, so I'd appreciate an
explanation and/or examples of cases. Has the Age Discrimination Act of
1975 led to jurisprudence that might be illuminating? I'm a layperson, so I
don't have access to subscription-type references to research this directly.

In the case of voting eligibility, I'm unconvinced that age is pertinent.
It remains due to the path dependency of history, but ought to be reformed
going forward, once a sufficiently powerful organized demand comes along.

Yes, good point, Mark -- I'm aware of this work of Equal Citizens against
elections officials giving preferential support for voting access based on
age. ("election officials in Alaska started mailing absentee ballot request
forms to every voter over 65 years old. But no voter under 65 received one.
If younger voters want to vote absentee, they have to find a way on their
own.") They used the 26th Amendment.
https://equalcitizens.us/end-age-discrimination/

'Criteria for participation' notwithstanding, could the Age Discrimination
Act of 1975 be powerful enough relative to state constitutions' voter
qualifications? I'm not sure how the types of laws interrelate/override. I
appreciate the point about Oregon v Mitchell. I need help with synthesizing.

Robin

On Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:06 PM Brown, Mark <MBrown at law.capital.edu> wrote:

> We may be confusing two different statutes, the ADEA (which builds in a
> critical of 40 and does not authorize reverse actions by those below that
> age) and the ADA, which has no critical age stated.  Along with the absence
> of a critical age, such as 40 in the ADEA, the ADA does not apply to the
> employment context, of course, but requires the federal money as a hook.
> Assuming a state/local agency receives federal money, it is covered by the
> ADA, and some lower courts have allowed reverse discrimination claims (that
> is, claims by young for providing better treatment to old).
>
> With that said, it is not clear that the ADA creates a private cause of
> action, with the majority of courts apparently not recognizing one.
> Further, the ADA has a pretty big exception for age discrimination that is
> necessary to the accomplishment of the program, which I assume would mean
> that drivers' licenses and probably voting requirements are excepted.
> Still, providing preferential treatment for the elderly in the context of
> voting would still seem problematic to me, although I must confess I have
> not done enough research into the ADA.  It is a rarely-used law in the big
> scheme of Civil Rights Litigation.
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on
> behalf of Smith, Bradley <BSmith at law.capital.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 25, 2021 1:20 PM
> *To:* Robin Chen <rschanche at gmail.com>;
> law-election at department-lists.uci.edu <
> law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, federal financial
> assistance for elections administration, and state law restrictions on
> voting ineligibility based on age
>
>
> Robin,
>
> I gather you are wondering if laws setting a minimum age for voting
> violate the Age Discrimination Act. The ADA has been interpreted as
> prohibiting discrimination against those older than age 50, but not against
> those who are younger. The ADA does not prohibit an employer, for example,
> from saying “we don’t hire people under age 30.” See e.g. General Dynamics
> Land Systems, Inc v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (2004).
>
>
>
> Brad Smith
>
>
>
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> *On
> Behalf Of *Robin Chen
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 25, 2021 11:59 AM
> *To:* law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, federal financial
> assistance for elections administration, and state law restrictions on
> voting ineligibility based on age
>
>
>
>
>
> ** [ This email originated outside of Capital University ] **
>
>
>
> Dear Election Law Listserv,
>
>
>
> "The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits discrimination on the basis
> of age in programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance."
>
>
>
> But, isn't election administration a program/activity receiving federal
> financial assistance?
> https://www.eac.gov/payments-and-grants/election-security-funds
> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.eac.gov%2fpayments-and-grants%2felection-security-funds&c=E,1,CIMq3vY6rsPT8XM8f1ElkAHck8pNv1zVJDe_wbU_WGpdKtCu1CNqbSBonsdjw0-WXkZVxggEpN9gurHqsQCMxWxdcET409WoGUQsDHtkzy-d&typo=1>
>
>
> Every state is listed here, and then some.
> https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/paymentgrants/Funding_Chart_ElectionSecurity.pdf
> <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.eac.gov%2fsites%2fdefault%2ffiles%2fpaymentgrants%2fFunding_Chart_ElectionSecurity.pdf&c=E,1,-4UKKauBGANj4Phx1c05rePBQoBO8DcEotM0VUjtQ8r8LLgZqYafi5KvJ7M9ob6eaOlh-4hCr7HuqHIQCco6fLFQ-lAPpz8MYk96duX2oLyQXUGBA00,&typo=1>
>
>
>
> Every state _does_ discriminate based on age in the laws about
> qualifications of voters.
>
>
>
> Sorry to ask a naive question, but isn't this problematic?
>
>
>
> I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on this.
>
>
>
> Kindly,
>
> Robin
>
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