Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

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The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. This amendment was proposed by Congress to the states on August 27, 1962, and was ratified by the necessary number of states on January 23, 1964.

Background

Prior to the Twenty-fourth Amendment, many states implemented poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting. This practice was part of a broader strategy to disenfranchise African-American voters and poor white voters in the Southern United States. The poll tax was a fixed fee charged by states for the registration of voters, which effectively prevented those who could not afford the tax from voting. This disenfranchisement contributed to the exclusion of African Americans and other minority groups from the political process.

Ratification

The push for the abolition of the poll tax in federal elections gained momentum during the Civil Rights Movement. The amendment was proposed by Congress after a series of legislative attempts to outlaw the poll tax were blocked by filibusters in the Senate. The ratification of the Twenty-fourth Amendment marked a significant victory for civil rights activists and was a crucial step towards ensuring equal voting rights for all Americans, regardless of their economic status.

Text

The text of the Twenty-fourth Amendment is concise and directly addresses the issue of poll taxes in federal elections. It states:

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Impact

The immediate impact of the Twenty-fourth Amendment was the elimination of poll taxes as a barrier to voting in federal elections. However, some states continued to require poll taxes for state and local elections until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966) that poll taxes for any level of elections were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling extended the prohibition of poll taxes beyond federal elections to state and local elections, thereby dismantling one of the last legal barriers to voting rights for all citizens.

Legacy

The Twenty-fourth Amendment is considered a landmark in the expansion of democratic rights in the United States. It reinforced the principle that the ability to vote should not be contingent upon a person's financial capacity, thereby making the electoral process more inclusive. The amendment is part of a series of legislative and constitutional reforms that sought to fulfill the promise of equal rights for all citizens, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

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