Twenty-fourth Amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1964, is a significant legislative measure that prohibits the imposition of poll taxes in federal elections. Poll taxes historically served as a barrier to voting, particularly disenfranchising African Americans in the South since the mid-1800s. Prior to the amendment, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of poll taxes in the 1937 case Breedlove v. Suttles, which reflected the ongoing legal struggles surrounding voting rights.
Following the amendment's enactment, several attempts were made to circumvent its provisions, such as a Virginia statute that allowed voters to either pay the poll tax or file a certificate of residence. However, this was struck down by the Court in Harman v. Forssenius, reinforcing the amendment's protections. Additionally, in the 1966 case Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, the Supreme Court extended the amendment's reach, declaring poll taxes unconstitutional in state and local elections as well. This series of legal challenges illustrates the ongoing evolution of voting rights in the United States and the importance of the Twenty-fourth Amendment in the fight against voter suppression.
Twenty-fourth Amendment
Date: 1964
Description: Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that eliminated the poll tax as a qualification for voting in federal elections.
Significance: Although the incidence of poll taxes was declining by the time of its enactment, the Twenty-fourth Amendment banned such taxes in primaries and federal elections and gave Congress power to enforce the amendment through legislation.
Poll taxes, taxes that had to be paid before a person could vote, had been used to disenfranchise African Americans in the South since the mid-1800’s. In Breedlove v. Suttles (1937), the Supreme Court upheld a Georgia poll tax despite a challenge based on the equal protection and privileges and immunities clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Through the enactment of the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964, Congress prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections. Virginia passed a statute that sought to circumvent the new amendment by offering voters the choice of either paying the tax or filing a certificate of residence six months before the election; however, the Court struck down this law in Harman v. Forssenius (1965) because it penalized those who chose to exercise a right already guaranteed by the amendment.
In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966), the Court outlawed the poll tax as a voting requirement in state and local elections. Justice Hugo L. Black, the only remaining member of the Court that had rendered the 1937 decision, dissented.