Electoral security

Across the World, Where Are the Voters?

Thanks to the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, some 11 million U.S. citizens have the right to vote today who otherwise wouldn't.

The amendment effectively granted the youth population the power to swing U.S. elections; voters between 18- to 24-years-old comprise about 15 percent of all eligible voters in the U.S., according to the United States Census Bureau. But in the 45 years since the amendment's passage in 1971, young voters have failed to represent themselves proportionately at the polls.

When it comes to voter participation, "The U.S. has the largest gap between ages out of the whole democratic world," says Paul Beck, co-director of the Comparative National Elections Project at The Ohio State University.