# Youth Voting Rights Act: Making It Easier for Young People to Vote

This bill aims to remove barriers that prevent young people from voting and to make it easier for 18- to 29-year-olds to participate in elections. The bill recognizes that while the 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote back in 1971, many young voters still face practical obstacles that older voters don't encounter. The legislation tackles issues like voter registration challenges, confusing ID requirements, lack of polling places on college campuses, and other rules that disproportionately affect young voters.

The bill makes several concrete changes to federal voting law. It requires colleges and universities to serve as voter registration agencies, making it easier for students to register right on campus. It allows 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote so they're ready when they turn 18. It mandates that states allow on-campus polling locations during early voting periods, which studies show significantly increases youth turnout. The bill also prohibits states from using residency requirements to prevent college students from voting where they study, and it limits strict voter ID rules that often confuse young voters who may not have driver's licenses yet.

Additionally, the bill provides federal grants to states that run programs encouraging youth participation in elections and requires better data collection on how voting barriers affect young people. It also creates a legal pathway for young voters to sue if they believe their voting rights have been violated based on age discrimination. The bill's supporters argue these changes simply enforce protections that already exist in the Constitution but are being blocked by outdated state rules and procedures that make voting unnecessarily difficult for young people.

Youth Voting Rights Act

Youth Voting Rights Act This 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. 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.