# Youth Voting Rights Act: What It Actually Does

This bill is designed to make it easier for young people to vote by removing barriers that currently make voting more difficult for them compared to older adults. The core idea is that while the 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote back in 1971, many states and localities have created obstacles that make it harder for young voters to actually exercise that right. This bill aims to fix those problems through federal action.

The bill tackles several specific issues young voters face. It requires colleges and universities to serve as voter registration locations, making it easier for students to register where they study. It allows people to pre-register to vote before they turn 18, so they're ready to vote as soon as they're eligible. It requires states to allow on-campus polling locations so students can vote where they live during the school year. The bill also prohibits states from requiring young voters to have a specific residency to vote—meaning college students can vote from their campus address rather than being forced to vote in their hometown. Additionally, it eliminates age-based restrictions on mail-in voting, so young people get the same access to voting by mail as older voters do.

The bill also addresses voter ID requirements by making sure they don't unfairly burden young voters, and it provides federal funding to states that run programs encouraging youth participation in elections. It includes provisions to study why young voters face higher rejection rates for provisional and mail-in ballots and to collect data on youth voting barriers. Essentially, the bill treats voting access for young people as a federal priority and uses Congress's power to enforce the 26th Amendment to ensure states remove unnecessary obstacles to youth voting.

Youth Voting Rights Act

Williams, Nikema

Youth Voting Rights ActThis bill expands voting access for youth.Specifically, the bill establishes a private right of action to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote based on age. Further, the bill authorizes the Department of Justice to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment against age-based restrictions for voting by mail.Additionally, the bill directs each state to<ul><li>designate as voter registration agencies all offices within public institutions of higher education (IHEs) that provide assistance to students,</li><li>implement a preregistration process to allow minors&nbsp;who are 16 years&nbsp;or older&nbsp;to register to vote in federal elections that take place&nbsp;when or after&nbsp;the preregistered individual turns age 18, and</li><li>ensure the availability of polling places on campuses of IHEs (with the availability of waivers).</li></ul>The bill prohibits durational residency requirements for voting in all federal elections. Currently, this prohibition applies only to voting for the offices of President and Vice President.States and local jurisdictions with voter identification requirements must treat IHE-issued student identification cards as voter identification.The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must make grants to states to increase the involvement of individuals under age 18 in public election activities.The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on trends related to voter registration, absentee voting, and provisional voting. The EAC must also collect and make publicly available certain data from states.