Hawaii senator recognized for 40th anniversary of lowering the voter age requirement

HONOLULU—Thursday, July 7 will be the 40th anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18 in the United States. This event will be commemorated and celebrated in Chicago by the National Education Association (NEA) recognizing people who were leaders in the national effort to change the voting age.

Hawaii State Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D), who represents South and West Maui, was one of those leaders and will attend the commemorative event. Baker began her career with NEA working on the voting age Amendment in Washington, D.C. in 1969.  She headed up the NEA’s Project 18 and later the national Youth Franchise Coalition, which successfully lobbied Congress to propose the Amendment and then worked with State coalitions to secure ratification votes in 38 state legislatures by July 1, 1971. The amendment (S.J. Res7) was proposed to the states for ratification on March 23, 1971 and state ratifications were secured in less than four months. Until 1980, worked at NEA government relations as a lobbyist and finally as Assistant Director for Federal Agency Relations.

Hawaii was the sixth state to ratify the Constitutional Amendment, voting on March 24, 1971. Even prior to that, Hawaii was one of only four states that allowed persons under age 21 to vote, as citizens age 20 could register and vote in elections here.

“It was an exciting time,” Baker said in a statement. “The generation that came of age in the 60s, at the time of the Vietnam War, was very proactive and helped push forward a number of civil right actions that have changed our country for the better. It took a lot of hard work by many people to lower the voting age to 18, but I think most Americans today believe it was the right thing to do and appreciate the efforts that were made back then.”