In 1940, only 3% of eligible African Americans in the South are registered to vote. Jim Crow laws were meant to keep African Americans from voting. These included literacy tests and poll taxes.
In the midst of World War II, in order to have more men to be drafted, Congress lowered the minimum age to be 18 in 1942 and the maximum age 37.
The reason for this being is because of the 20 million men who were eligible to fight, 50% were rejected due to being illiterate or because of health issues, hence the lowered age range.
However, the slogan “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” was born shortly after.
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In the same year (1942), the slogan motivated Congressman Jennings Randolph of West Virginia to propose the voting age to be lowered to 18, in which President Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson championed the cause.
Films, B. N. (2016, May 12). The 26th amendment: “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote”. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/the-26th-amendment-old-enough-to-fight-old-enough-to-vote-49474cce21fd.
Malloryk. (2020, October 27). “old enough to fight, old enough to vote”: The WWII roots of the 26th amendment: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. Retrieved from https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/voting-age-26th-amendment.
Voting rights act: Major dates in history. American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights-act-major-dates-history.