Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-07
Younger Voters Would
CompIicote Elections
Writer Argues Presidents Plan
To Lower Age Is Unwise
By Fronk R. Kent

BY Fronk r. Kent
Though it doe not lack a certain
support there is more well-founded OPP
position to the Eisenhower proposal to
amend the Constitution so as to per-
NIT all those over Is years of age to
vote than to any other suggestion he
has made to Congress in the state-of-
the Union message-and since. The
chances Of it going through at this
session are exceedingly dim.
The proposal is. of course, not new.
One State - Georgia - amended its
election laws to permit 18-agers to
vote some years ago, and back in 1947
the late Senator Vandenberg offered,
in effect, what the President proposes
now. 1t got nowhere then and it hardly
will get anywhere now. Exactly who
sold this idea to the President is not
certain. but whoever it was has not
helped either him or his program. 1t is
easy to understand that the old argu-
ment that If boy of 10 is old enough
to fight he is old enough to vote"
would appeal to Gen. Ike. But there is
a lot more to 1t than that and the
more the proposition is considered the
more flaws appear.
OF course, Mr.. Eisenhower cannot
be accused Of urging it for personal
political advantages. Because, even
should Congress enact the amendment
by two-thirdS vote it would then
have to be ratified by three fourths Of
the State legislatures. This would
hardly be possible before the 1856
election and could not happen at all
unless there was strong public senti-
ment In favor.
The fact is that there seems no
real sentiment at all. Certainly there
is no public demand for this amend.
ment and no discernible national in
tereSt which 1t would serve. On the
contrary, there are a number of rea.
sons why it would worsen our general
election situation. One of the great
defects in our system is the refusal
or failure of so large a portion Of
the voters to go to the polls. In the
presidential election of 1948 the total
vote for Truman, Dewey, Wallace and
Thurmond was considerably less than
SO per cent of those qualified to vote.
In 1852. the percentage was higher.
but approximately IS million qualified
voters did not vote.
In the primaries, which are the key
to all politics, the PERCENTAGE of par
tiripating voters is SO absurdly low as
to be shocking This fact vastly in
creases the power of the professional
machine politicians. and the proposed
amendment would do nothing to bet
ter that situation. On the contrary, it
would add from 10 to IA millions
of eligible voters to the rolls - for.
of course, the eligibles would include
females as well as males. whites as
we'll as Negroes. There is every
reason to believe that the interest in
public affairs of these younger voters
would not be as great as voters in
their late twenties or thirties. and that,
therefore, the percentage of non-par-
ticipating voters-particularly in the
primaries would be increased rather
than decreased. Certainly. the proper
ton of informed and discriminating
voters would not be enhanced.
Then. Of course, as the suffrage is
extended to widen its base the field
of the demagogue is correspondingly
"a OoOCAACd dAlu lA4C "AlOlC PAoAlC Va PO4A-
tics lowered. No one wants to argue
now against woman suffrage. There
never was a sound reason against that
so far as the right of women to vote
or as to the female capacity to vote
as intelligently as males is concerned.
However, there are few men versed in
practical politics-or women. either
who will contend that giving the vote to
women has brought about the roseate
results that had been hoped. 1t has not
purified politics. 1t has not raised the
level of political discussion. It has not
improved the caliber of the candidates.
1t has MOTTO any real extent-affected
the outcome of elections, because most
womcn-not all. OF course. by a-y
means. but most-vote the way their
husband or the male head Of the
family votes-ard will continue to do
so
There may have been some, but IL
is not easy to specify any great good
which the woman suffrage amendment
has accomplished. This is not intended
to diSparage the fine work of such
organizations as the League of Women
Voters and others. Nevertheless. about
the only thing concerning the woman
vote that can be definitely proved is
that it has greatly enhanced the con-
fusion of elections and more than
doubled their cost. The Presidents pro-
posal to reduce the age limit of voters
from 81 to 18 would add still further
to both the confusion and the cost. And
that, from whatever angle viewed,
would not be good.