proportionately voted at the on-campus voting loca-
tions. Voter turnout is bolstered by on-campus vot-
ing locations because those locations lower the op-
portunity costs for voting for all registered voters, 
particularly for young registered voters. 
(14) Young people are passionate about polit-
ical issues and often want to engage in the political 
process, but they face barriers to participation. For 
example, they may face structural obstacles such as 
proof requirements that obscure a young person’s 
right to vote, barriers to voter registration, inacces-
sible or poorly equipped polling places, campus ger-
rymanders, over-reliance on provisional ballots, un-
equal access to vote-by-mail, and unfair treatment of 
provisional and vote-by-mail ballots. Some of these 
barriers are acute for the youngest voters who are 
particularly transient and move every year, thereby 
struggling to update their voter registration, or who 
are less likely to have a driver’s license to use as 
voter identification. Youth voters are similarly vul-
nerable to confusion about their right to vote from 
their campus residences. Although the Supreme 
Court summarily affirmed the right of college stu-
dents to vote from their campus residences in 1979, 
pursuant to the 26th Amendment, misinformation, 
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disinformation, and legal challenges persist about 
this right. Congress finds that students indeed have 
a right to vote from their campus residences. Relat-
edly, many young people have not been taught about 
elections and voting, including the practicalities of 
registering and casting a ballot and the reasons why 
their voices and votes matter in democracy. 
(15) Seven States restrict access to vote-by-mail 
on account of age, allowing voters above a certain 
age to vote with no excuse, and requiring that voters 
below 60 or 65 meet a narrow list of excuses to vote- 
by-mail. In those States, voters 65 and older com-
prise nearly 65 percent of all at-home ballots, where-
as the use of at-home ballots is more evenly distrib-
uted across age cohorts in States without the age- 
restriction. 
In 
age-discriminatory 
vote-at-home 
States, 21 percent of adults over 65 voted at home 
in 2018, but less than 6 percent of voters 18–34 did 
so. Congress further finds that eligible voters, in-
cluding youth, have the right to vote by mail in Fed-
eral elections free of prima facie age restrictions. 
(16) Studies reinforce the habit-forming nature 
of voting, making it all the more important that vot-
ing becomes normalized at an early age through un-
obstructed access to the ballot. For example, a re-
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cent study found that on average, voting in 1 elec-
tion increases the probability of voting in a future 
election by 10 percentage points. 
(17) According to CIRCLE, youth without col-
lege experience also tend to vote at lower rates than 
young people in college. For example, in 2018, 28 
percent of youth (ages 18–29) voted, while the Insti-
tute for Democracy & Higher Education of Tufts 
University estimated that 40 percent of college stu-
dents cast a ballot. There are disparities by age, and 
even among youth; the youngest group (ages 18 and 
19) vote at lower rates. There are also disparities by 
urbanicity, with young people in rural areas and 
other civic deserts having lower voter turnout. 
(18) According to CIRCLE, low-income youth 
are acutely impacted, since their economic struggles 
translate into multiple logistical barriers to voting. A 
recent survey of low-income youth found that young 
voters reported barriers to voting, including— 
(A) confusion with voter identification 
rules (88 percent); 
(B) confusion about the impact of voter 
disenfranchisement (42 percent reported lack of 
clarity about whether someone who paid a fine 
for driving under the influence could vote or if 
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someone with a suspended driver’s license could 
vote); 
(C) confusion about the location of polling 
places (39 percent did not know where to vote); 
and 
(D) a high lack of confidence that they 
would be fully prepared to vote if an election 
happened ‘‘next week’’ (only half of surveyed 
youth reported confidence). 
(19) Moreover, youth reported negative voting 
experiences due to failure to see young people work-
ing at the polls (87 percent), failure to see poll 
workers that look like them (74 percent), and not 
believing that election officials make an effort to en-
sure that people like them can vote (59 percent). 
(20) Presidential election years are particularly 
consequential for youth voter engagement. For ex-
ample, 61 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds were reg-
istered to vote in 2008, compared to 49 percent in 
2010. Moreover, youth who registered to vote are 
considerably more likely to vote. Among youth reg-
istered in 2008, 84 percent cast a ballot. 
(21) While direct youth voter registration, out-
reach, and engagement is typically heightened in the 
Summer and Fall months leading up to presidential 
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elections, unprecedented obstacles presented them-
selves amid the COVID–19 pandemic as the econ-
omy slowed, the Nation shut down, and institutions 
of higher education, technical and vocational schools, 
and high schools, along with county election offices, 
changed their normal operations. 
(22) The 2020 primary cycle shed light on the 
unique obstacles faced by young voters in uncertain 
times as they were displaced from the college 
domiciles where they would eventually return. Con-
fused and misinformed about their right to vote 
from campus despite the temporary relocation, these 
voters had to adjust for the first time to obtaining, 
printing, properly filling out and submitting along 
with required proofs, and mailing postage-required 
official forms and paperwork, such as voter registra-
tion forms, absentee ballot requests, and absentee 
ballots. 
(23) The 2020 election resulted in unprece-
dented voter turnout overall, boasting the highest 
turnout in United States history, with 17,000,000 
more voters compared to the last presidential cycle. 
The unprecedented trend tracked for youth voters as 
well. 2020 was the first election in which the major-
ity of voters under the age of 30 voted. States with 
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the highest youth voter rates were those with more 
robust registration and vote by mail laws, such as 
those with pre-registration, same day registration, 
election day registration, early voting, and accessible 
no-excuse vote by mail opportunities. 
(24) The response to increased voter turnout 
has been an unprecedented number of State legisla-
tive proposals to make it harder to cast a valid bal-
lot, such as the imposition of limitations on the 
availability of drop-boxes, limitations on the count-
ing of out-of-precinct ballots, and the removal of stu-
dent identification as valid voter identification where 
required. Pressures have also mounted on the local 
level, with continued efforts to prevent or remove on- 
campus polling locations, which are key to youth en-
gagement since they allow students to vote where 
they study, work, eat, and sleep. 
(25) State and local election administration im-
pacts youth at large, including high school youth in 
their ability to pre-register in advance of turning 18, 
college students matriculating in traditional public 
and private 2- or 4-year institutions of higher edu-
cation or vocational and technical programs, and the 
most vulnerable or overlooked youth populations, 
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such as those in less stable housing and those who 
do not pursue college education. 
(26) The 14th and 26th Amendments, and the 
Elections Clause of section 4 of article I and Guar-
antee Clause of section 4 of article IV, of the Con-
stitution empower Congress to protect the right to 
vote in Federal elections. 
(27) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was always 
understood to be privately enforceable, and to con-
tain a private right of action by which all voters of 
the United States could guarantee the rights guar-
anteed therein. Recently, in light of the continued 
development of the law concerning privately enforce-
able statutes, academic discussion and jurispru-
dential dicta have incorrectly questioned the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965’s private right of action. This 
Act and the amendments made by this Act recognize 
the hundreds of cases brought by private plaintiffs 
to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and re-af-
firms that such a private right of action has always 
existed for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF THE 26TH AMENDMENT. 
Title III of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 
10701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘SEC. 303. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION; STANDARD OF RE-
VIEW; FEES. 
‘‘(a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person eight-
een years of age and older who is aggrieved by a denial 
or abridgment of the right of a citizen of the United States 
to vote on account of age may commence a civil action 
in any appropriate district court of the United States for 
relief. 
‘‘(b) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—A denial or abridg-
ment of the right of a citizen of the United States to vote 
on account of age shall be established in a private right 
of action under subsection (a) if a qualification or pre-
requisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure— 
‘‘(1) has the effect of denying or abridging to 
citizens eighteen years of age and older the due 
process or equal protection of the laws that are 
guaranteed to them under the 14th and 26th 
Amendments of the Constitution of the United 
States; and 
‘‘(2) is not necessary to advance any compelling 
interest of a State or political subdivision. 
‘‘(c) FEES AND COSTS.—The court, in an action 
under this section, shall allow the plaintiff, if the pre-
vailing party, to recover from the defendant reasonable at-
torneys’ and expert witness fees, and other costs of the 
action.’’. 
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SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 
EDUCATION AS VOTER REGISTRATION AGEN-
CIES UNDER NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRA-
TION ACT OF 1993. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a)(2) of the National 
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)(2)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (A); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(C) all offices within public institutions of 
higher education, as defined in section 101 and 
section 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001; 20 U.S.C. 1002(c)), 
that provide assistance to students.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—Section 4(b) of the National 
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20503(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent-
ing appropriately; 
(2) by striking ‘‘STATES.—This Act’’ and in-
serting ‘‘STATES.—’’; 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), this Act’’; 
(3) in paragraph (1), as added by paragraph 
(2) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘paragraphs’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subparagraphs’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION
OF
CERTAIN
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the 
case of a State described in paragraph (1)(B), sub-
section (a)(3)(B), section 7, and paragraphs (1)(C), 
(5), and (6) of section 8(a) shall apply, but only 
with respect to institutions described in section 
7(a)(2)(C).’’. 
SEC. 6. PRE-REGISTRATION OF MINORS FOR VOTING IN 
FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) PRE-REGISTRATION OF MINORS FOR VOTING IN 
FEDERAL ELECTIONS.—The National Voter Registration 
Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by in-
serting after section 8 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 8A. PRE-REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR MINORS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING IMPLEMENTATION
OF PRE-REG-
ISTRATION PROCESS.—Each State shall implement a 
process under which— 
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