Blue Over Red Lines Vote

Blue field with two circle and one line cutouts exposing red X on a white background.

The 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, establishing the minimum voting age as 18 for state and federal elections in the United States. Leading up to this momentous event, organizers created buttons, stickers, and other graphics urging voters to “Vote 18” or “Vote Yes 18.” As many slogans claimed Old enough to fight, Old enough to vote – highlighting the United States’ Military’s Selective Service or draft age of 18 – this button was a call for the voting age to be lowered in tandem. 

The back of this pinback button includes the phrase, “Vote 18,” scratched into the metal with the front displaying a stylized ‘18’ featuring an ‘X’ in the background – alluding to the act of voting. The slogan and imagery of the button associate it as part of the Youth Voting Rights campaign in the early 1970s. Related slogans became a sentiment lauded by many youth organizations, including the Let Us Vote Committee, who are the likely creators of this particular design.