Poll taxes and the Supreme Court
Poll taxes were fees imposed on voters, primarily in Southern states, as a means to restrict access to the ballot, particularly for African Americans, despite the constitutional protections offered by the Fifteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the legality of poll taxes in several cases, such as *Williams v. Mississippi* in 1898 and *Breedlove v. Suttles* in 1937, reinforcing the use of this and other discriminatory practices, like literacy tests and white primaries, to disenfranchise Black voters. This system persisted until significant legal and constitutional changes began to address these injustices. The ratification of the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964 abolished poll taxes in federal elections, marking a pivotal shift in voting rights. Later, in the 1966 case *Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections*, the Supreme Court ruled that poll taxes violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in state elections. The broader context of these developments was shaped by the civil rights movement, which sought to eliminate systemic racism and ensure equitable access to voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with its subsequent amendments, further dismantled discriminatory practices, including poll taxes, reinforcing the legal framework for fair voting rights in the United States.
Subject Terms
Poll taxes and the Supreme Court
Description: Procedure initially used to raise revenue. Payment of such taxes eventually took the place of property ownership as a stipulation for voting, frequently keeping the poor, both white and black, from voting.
Significance: From the 1880’s to the 1960’s, poll taxes were implemented in many southern states to disfranchise African Americans, resulting in congressional involvement and in cases being brought before the Supreme Court.
To get around the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed former male slaves the right to vote, states throughout the South required only African American voters to show payment of the poll tax. In Williams v. Mississippi (1898), the Supreme Court upheld the so-called Mississippi solution, which required poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency of black voters. Along with other devices employed to deny the franchise to African Americans, such as white primaries and the grandfather clause, poll taxes persisted. In Breedlove v. Suttles (1937), the Court upheld a poll tax as a qualification for voting.
In 1964 the Twenty-fourth Amendment was passed and ratified, eliminating poll taxes in federal elections. In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966), the Court declared poll taxes a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in state elections. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, amended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, successfully removed discriminatory voting practices, of which poll taxes were an integral part.