Lowering the Voting Age in California: Possible, But Not Without Problems
A proposed legislatively-referred amendment to the California constitution (Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10) would lower the voting age from 18 to 17 in California, if it passes the state legislature and is adopted by the electorate. This article considers whether a state has the power to set voting age requirements for its electors, and the effect of federal law. It concludes that California has legal authority to make this change, but there are potential conflicts with federal election law. Steps to Reform Several things need to happen for this proposal to take effect. First, both houses of the state legislature must...