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Most Americans want maximum age limit for elected officials: poll

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Grassley. (Getty Images)

A large majority of Americans favor a maximum age limit for elected officials, a new CBS News/YouGov poll found.

When asked if there should be an upper age restriction at which point lawmakers are forced to leave office, 73 percent of poll respondents agreed. Only 27 percent of those surveyed did not agree with the idea.

The majority across all political parties polled were in favor of the maximum age limit, with 71 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of independents supporting it.

The majority support also held through every age group of respondents.

Most of those polled (40 percent) said 70 would be an appropriate cut-off age. The other ages offered were age 50 (8 percent), age 60 (26 percent), age 80 (18 percent) and age 90 (2 percent).


Currently, the oldest members of Congress are 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). President Biden is 79 years old.

The poll, conducted on a sample of 2,085 U.S. adults between August 29-31, 2022, has a margin of error of 2.6 points points.