AGE REQUIREMENT FOR HOLDING OFFICE

The Framers of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES as well as the drafters of constitutions for most of the individual states set a minimum age for a person to be eligible for elective office. As a result, voters may not always be able to evaluate and elect candidates for public office on whatever criteria they choose, or on no criteria at all.
With respect to the states, the minimum age
required to serve as a house representative
ranges from 18 to 25, with about half the states
requiring a minimum age of 21. Only about a
third of the states allow 18-year-olds to serve in
the state senate, and 20 have set a minimum age
of 25. In five states, the minimum age required
to serve as a state senator is 30.
For governor, most states require a mini-
mum age of 30. Oklahoma has a minimum age
of 31, six states have no age qualification, three
allow a minimum age of 18, and six specify a
minimum age of 25.
Although many states, over the years, have
voluntarily changed their age qualification laws
to allow more people to run for elective office,
court challenges to these statutes have largely
failed. In 1971, the SUPREME COURT OF THE
UNITED STATES held that the TWENTY-SIXTH
AMENDMENT to the U.S. Constitution, which
forbids the states to deny the vote to anyone 18
years or older, had no effect on the constitution-
ality of age requirements for holding office.
Those challenging age restrictions have argued
that such laws deny people under the required
age EQUAL PROTECTION of the law. These chal-
lenges have not been successful. Courts have
found that holding office is not a fundamental
right that states may not restrict. They have
determined that age is a reasonable basis of dis-
crimination to ensure that those serving in gov-
ernment possess the necessary maturity,
experience, and competence to perform as effec-
tive representatives.
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution set
forth a number of reasons for requiring a mini-
mum age for election to office, beliefs that are
still held today. JAMES MADISON successfully
argued that a minimum age of 30 should be
required to serve in the U.S. Senate. He cited as
his reason “the Senatorial trust,” requiring a “sta-
bility of character” that could only be realized
with age (Federalist No. 62). GEORGE MASON,of
Virginia, suggested that 25 be set as the mini-
mum age for the House of Representatives, a
proposal that was adopted. He maintained that
21-year-olds did not possess sufficient maturity
to serve in the House, as their political beliefs
were “too crude and erroneous to merit an influ-
ence on public opinions” (1 Records of the Fed-
eral Convention of 1787). JAMES WILSON,a
drafter from Pennsylvania, countered, unsuc-
cessfully, that age requirements would “damp
the effects of genius and of laudable ambition”
and added that there was “no more reason for
incapacitating youth than age” (1 Records of the
Federal Convention of 1787). In the mid-1990s,
the average member of Congress was in her or
his mid-fifties, but the number of younger
members elected to serve was on the increase.
The Framers also considered the minimum
age that should be required for individuals seek-
ing the presidency of the United States, and set-
tled on 35—the highest age qualification for any
office in the United States. JOHN F. KENNEDY,
who became president at the age of 43, was the
youngest person to be elected to that office.

Although the Framers of the U.S. Constitu-
tion and the individual states were careful to set
minimum age requirements for office, upper age
limits have not been established. President
RONALD REAGAN was the oldest individual to
assume the office of president; he was almost 70
when he was sworn in, and served two terms before leaving office at nearly 78.

AGE REQUIREMENT FOR HOLDING OFFICE