The Legal Case for Children’s Right to Vote in the United States

Abstract

This article argues that US constitutional law supports the right to vote of children regardless of age. First, it places US law in the context of the legal, philosophical, and social scientific discussion of the issue and recent children’s suffrage movements, which suggest that barring the right to vote according to age neglects children’s democratic interests, harms societies, and is discriminatory. Second, it considers the further context of US obligations under international law, especially the udhr, iccpr, and crc, in which children’s voting is arguably implied as a universal, equal, and fundamental human right. Finally, it considers US constitutional law itself and shows why ageless voting is an issue of the fundamental interests of children as a suspect class in need of special protection against voting discrimination.