A Vote for Youth

One of the shrillest cries of the disaffected young has revolved around a lack of legal avenues to change the System. No more. Last Wednesday in an extraordinary evening session, the Ohio house of representatives, by a vote of 81 to 9, made Ohio the 38th state to approve the 26th Amendment to the Constitution. That was sufficient for ratification, which means that 18-to 20-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections, local and state as well as federal.

The states moved with astonishing alacrity, taking only three months and seven days from the time the amendment was first sent out for ratification. Said President Nixon: "Some 11 million young men and women who have participated in the life of our nation through their work, their studies and their sacrifices for its defense are now fully included in the electoral process of our country. I urge them to honor this right by exercising it."

Just how widely--and wisely--they will exercise their vote is a subject under close scrutiny by politicians and pollsters right now. Early registrations indicate that the Democrats should benefit by a 3-to-l margin from the youth vote. Admits one G.O.P. leader: "Privately, most Republicans would just as soon not have seen this happen." But no one is going to benefit much until the critical question of whether students may register and vote from their campus addresses is resolved in state and federal courts.

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