How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?

Why this is the answer

The answer is eighteen, and the rule reaches well beyond the race for President. For most of American history, a citizen had to be at least 21 years old to vote. Pressure to lower it built during the Vietnam War, in the 1960s and 1970s, when many people argued that anyone old enough to fight in a war was old enough to vote. Congress answered by proposing the 26th Amendment on March 23, 1971, and the states ratified it on July 1 of that year, within a matter of months. Its text is short and direct: the right of citizens who are eighteen or older to vote cannot be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age. The USCIS lessons note that the change applied to federal, state and local elections alike. Registering is the other step, and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 made it easier by allowing registration by mail, at public assistance offices, or while applying for or renewing a driver’s license. Two other numbers can get in the way. One is 21, the minimum that held until 1971 and that the Vietnam-era argument set out to change. The other is thirty-five, the minimum age to be President under Article II of the Constitution, which also requires fourteen years of residence in the United States. The question asks how old you must be to vote for a President, not to become one, so thirty-five is the wrong number here. If you hear the word President and feel the pull toward thirty-five, slow down and listen for the verb. “Vote for” points to the voter, and the voter only needs to be eighteen. Saying “eighteen and older” in full matches the official wording exactly and leaves nothing for the officer to interpret.