The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that a citizen who is 18 years of age older may not be denied the right to vote on account of age, and states:

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

And the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that a person may not be denied the right to vote on account of sex, and states:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

In New Jersey, as in all states, the right to vote is protected under federal constitutional amendments. The Twenty-sixth Amendment ensures that citizens who are 18 years of age or older cannot be denied the right to vote based on their age. This means that in New Jersey, any citizen who meets the age requirement and other state-imposed eligibility criteria, such as residency and not being disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, has the right to vote in federal, state, and local elections. Additionally, the Nineteenth Amendment guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied on the basis of sex, ensuring that both male and female citizens have equal voting rights. New Jersey must comply with these amendments, and any attempt to infringe upon these rights could be subject to legal challenge. Both amendments grant Congress the authority to pass legislation to enforce these rights, which can impact how states, including New Jersey, administer their voting laws.