Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 126 / Tuesday, July 6, 2021 / Presidential Documents 35385 

Proclamation 10231 of June 30, 2021 

50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Our Constitution recognizes that, as a Nation, we are constantly learning. 

Our Founders built that recognition into its original design, providing a 

mechanism to amend our Constitution as our Nation evolved. On July 1, 

1971, our Nation ratified the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering 

the voting age to 18. At the time, 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old Americans 

were fulfilling their civic duties: paying taxes, serving in our Armed Forces, 

acting as first responders, laboring in fields, factories, and service jobs across 

the country, and pursuing higher education. They were participating in 

our democracy and all of the responsibilities of citizenship in all ways 

except for one: they could not vote. A broad coalition, following in the 

footsteps of the suffragettes of the early 20th century and the civil rights 

activists of the 1960s, advocated, educated, and prevailed in persuading 

our Nation that those younger Americans were entitled to the right to vote. 

We also made a national commitment that the right to vote would never 

be denied or abridged for any adult voter based on their age. 

My first race for the Senate was one of the first elections in which 18- 

year-olds could vote, and the energy and passion of Delaware’s young people 

helped propel me to an unlikely victory. 

Fifty years later, younger voters remain essential to our civic infrastructure. 

They are not only voting in our elections—including at record rates in 

2020—but winning them. Younger Americans are lending their talent and 

vision to school boards, city councils, and county commissions; teenagers 

are serving as State legislators and mayors, and we are the better for it. 

Younger voters are not waiting to inherit the future; they are building 

the future themselves. Young Americans have been on the front lines in 

the fight to defend the right to vote and expand access to the ballot box 

for all eligible voters. Their civic engagement extends beyond voting—with 

young Americans leading the calls for racial justice, climate action, gun 

violence prevention, and immigration reform among many other issues. 

Despite the progress we have made, there remain persistent gaps in turnout 

between younger voters and their older counterparts. There is still more 

that we can and must do to deliver on the promise of the 26th Amendment. 

My Administration has made public service and civic education a priority, 

engaging younger Americans in our shared struggle for continual progress. 

I have directed Federal agencies to consider ways to make it easier to 

vote and to learn about voting, and to focus on the various ways that 

the Federal Government engages younger Americans, online and off. Today’s 

youth are more diverse than past generations—and laws aimed at suppressing 

voter turnout in Black and Brown communities also impact young voters. 

My Administration supports the For the People Act and the John Lewis 

Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect the fundamental right to vote 

and make our democracy more equitable and accessible for all Americans. 

Today, we honor the bipartisan expansion of voter enfranchisement. Let 

us continue our work to make the 26th Constitutional Amendment ever 

more meaningful in the months and years ahead. 


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35386 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 126 / Tuesday, July 6, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 1, 2021, as 

the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment. I call upon all Americans 

to participate in ceremonies and activities that honor the 26th formal modification of our national Charter, that recognize the contributions made by 

voters enfranchised by its terms, and that work toward full participation 

of all who are eligible to vote. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day 

of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortyfifth. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14497 

Filed 7–2–21; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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