The Loch Ness Monster, Haggis, and a Lower Voting Age: What American can Learn from Scotland

This Article, prepared for an American University Law Reviewsymposium, explores what the United States can learn from Scotland's experiencein lowering the voting age to sixteen. The minimum voting age in Americanelections seems firmly entrenched at eighteen, based in part on the Twenty-SixthAmendment, which prohibits states from denying the right to vote to anyone agedeighteen or older. Yet the conversation about lowering the voting age to sixteen,at least for local elections, has gained steam in recent years. The debate inAmerica, however, is nascent compared to the progress in Scotland, whichlowered the voting age to sixteen for its Independence Referendum in 2014 andfor all Scottish elections in 2015. Using original research from interviews Iconducted in Scotland, this Article offers three main takeaways for Americanjurisdictions considering this reform: the Scottish experience in lowering thevoting age has been mostly successful because advocates (1) went into schools toregister students to vote and encourage them to participate; (2) offeredmeaningful civics education, though that instruction was somewhat unevenacross the country; and (3) created a bipartisan coalition of policymakers whosupported the change. As the debate on the voting age in the United Statesexpands, advocates should draw upon these lessons from Scotland.