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By ED WILLIAMS DD.T Jackson Correspondent JACKSON—Proposals to lower the voting age in state elections to 18 appear doomed to a quiet death in the House Constitution Committee. “The committee’s too conservative, said Rep. Ben Owen, a Columbus lawyer who is committee chairman. “The only way it could eldul is if the committes could be con vinced that if they report it out, the voters will kill it. A constitutional amendment would be necessary, since the state’s 1290 constitution sell 21 as the minimum voting age. Amend ing the constitution requires 2-3 vote of each house plus a majority of votes cast in a state wide referendum. The effort to lower the stale voting age comes after Congress last year lowered the voting age in federal elections to 18. Rep. Robert Clark of Ebenezer introduced one resolution calling for the amendment, and Reps. Walter Brown of Natchez and Hubert Lennon of Halliesburg co-sponsor another. “We probably won't get it this year, but I think we will in the next five years,” Brown said. “By that time I think we'll see how ridiculous [Is to have 18-year-olds voting for president of the United States but not for justice of the peace.” Jimmy Swan, who has never stopped running for governor since he finished a surprising third in the 1967 race,opposes the Jower voting age because it would add black voters, “For the young whites, I don’t think it would make much difference,” he said. I think they'd vote about like their mammys and pappys. They're not too concerned about the vote, Byut—and I’m talking to you ag an ol’ Mississippi redneck now—you know our problem is with the young militant blacks. That’s where we'd have the troubles.”” One legislator, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed. “I don’t think many legislators are concerned about the vote for president or senator,” he said. “But in a Jocal election in the Delta, say, you have a precarious balance between white and black, and a lot of people are reluctant to tamper with it. Rep. P. L. Hughes of Madison is chairman of the three-member subcommittee studying the proposals. Members are Mrs. Gladys Slayden of Holly Springs and J. A. “Bud” ‘Thigpen of Cleveland. Rep. Walter Brown Photo By Michael Verner Hughes doesn't plan a public hearing on the proposals, but he says he has no objection oone. “It depends on how many people want a hearing, and how the other members of the subcommittee feel about it, he said. Lannon says ‘The only chance it has to come out of the committee is for it to be aired in a public hearing. As long as that com mittee can sit on it in secret it doesn't stand a chance. Have you looked at who's on the Constitution Committee? Wow! Others on the 1-member committee are James True of Gulfport, Tullius Brady of Brookhaven, Horace Iarned of Starkville, Betty Jane Long of Meridian, C. B.“Buddy” Newman of Valley Park, Marley Penton of Ocean Springs, and Clarence Pierce of Varden. True and Brady are members of the John Birch Society, and three others are or have been members of the conservative, segregationist Citizens Council. ‘True says the proposals haven’t a chance if the full committee votes on them. I'm absolutely 100 per cent opposed to lowering the voting age,’ he said. The slogan generated by many people—mostly by Subversive organizations—that if you’re old enough to fight, you're old enough to vote, is an effort to brainwash people into thinking, 18-year-olds are capable of making decisions that should be left to adults. I don’t see any sane reason for it, Clark, Lennon and Brown gay adding the younger voters would improve the elec torate, “I've worked with young people the last 15 years, said Clark, a former schoolteacher and administrator. “They know a lot more and they care a lot more about what's going on. We should take that into account.” Lennon said today's 18-year-olds ‘are better informed than 21-year-olds were 16 years ago. They’re probably better informed than any other age group,”” Brown considers extension of the role an effort to make young people a part of the biblical system. “I feel that young people will have more respect for their government if they can take part in it. I don’t think there would be any measurable shift in the electorate—they're not all going to vote alike. One reason for the problem the nation is having with youth is that we have a large group of young people who are better informed than any generation in the past, and very interested in what's happening. But they have no voice in the system. They feel they have to work outside the system if they're to have any affect. The general feeling seems to be that any line you draw for minimum voting age is arbitrary. So here's no compelling reason for drawing is one place rather than another. Most legislators see little public concern about lowering the voting age, and most don’t consider it a pressing issue. Whether or not the state extends the vote to 18-year-olds, some provision must be made to accommodate the new federal laws. Ike Shankle of Batesville, president of the Mississippi Association of Circuit Clerks, said “The legislature is going to have to pass some enabling laws or we can't register the new voters for federal elections. What are the mechanics of registration for 18-year olds. How do we handle it? Mississippi has no laws at all on the subject right now.” Ren. Bill Carr of Sardis is working on a bill to solve the clerks’ problems. “It will simply provide a separate book for registering 19-, 19-, and 20- year alds, with the provision thhat the names will be automatically transferred to the regular books when they reach 21, he said, One young legislator, who asked to remain anonymous, said here's a generation gap in the House. For the record, the average age of the Constitution Committee members is 54. The average age of sponsors of the lower voting-age proposals is 37. Rep. Robert Clark Photo By Michael Verner
Newspaper Details
Delta Democrat Times
Greenville, Mississippi, US
Sun, Jan 17, 1971
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Derrick R.
USA 30 May 2026
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