United States Senator Elizabeth Warren introduces Youth Voting Rights Act to expand youth access to voting

Washington, D.C./Boston, MA – On Monday, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) introduced the Youth Voting Rights Act, which would expand youth access to voting. This legislation is co-sponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii.). In the House of Representatives, this legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.), and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.).

Warren says that young voters participate in elections at lower rates than voters in older age cohorts. Their provisional ballots and mail-in ballots are rejected at disproportionate rates. And they routinely face serious obstacles to voter registration and in-person voting.

“Voting is the beating heart of our democracy. Young people are the future of America, and with voting rights under attack across the country, we must do everything we can to ensure they can exercise their right to vote. My new bicameral bill with Congresswoman Williams will ensure young people aren’t left out of the voting process, and I’m thrilled to partner with her and my colleagues on this effort,” said Senator Warren.

“It has never been more important to protect the health of our democracy and defend the most fundamental right of every American – the right to vote,” said Senator Markey. “The Youth Voting Rights Act will ensure young Americans, who represent the future of our democracy, are equal parts eager and empowered to participate in their first election by the time they turn eighteen.”

Warren stated that the bill would:

-Create a private right of action to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment and establishes a national standard of review for such lawsuits.

-Expand voter registration services at public colleges and universities. The bill designates offices at all public institutions of higher education as “voter registration agencies” under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, imposing voter registration obligations on these institutions.

-Allow young people in every state to pre-register to vote before turning 18. To ensure that young people can vote as soon as they turn 18, the bill requires states to establish pre-registration processes for 16- and 17-year-olds and allows states to expand their processes to youth younger than 16.

-Require institutions of higher education to have on-campus polling places. The bill ensures the availability of polling places on campuses of institutions of higher education, removing one of the most significant barriers to youth voting access.

-Prohibit durational residency requirements for all federal elections. The bill extends the Voting Rights Act’s protections against durational residency requirements and absentee voting limitations to all federal elections, not only elections for President and Vice President, and codifies the right to vote from a college domicile.

-Guarantee that states accept student IDs to meet voter-identification requirements. The bill mandates the acceptance of student IDs to meet state voter-identification requirements in federal elections.

-Create a grant program dedicated to youth involvement in elections. The bill creates a grant program for states to encourage youth involvement in elections, including through pre-registration, updated civics curricula, and a paid fellowship for young persons to work with state and local officials to support youth civic and political engagement.

-Gather data on youth voter registration and election participation. The bill requires the federal government to study voter registration, absentee voting, and provisional voting trends by age and race to inform efforts to improve youth involvement in elections.