Amendment
24th Amendment
Prohibited poll taxes in federal elections.
Year
1964
Impact
Positive
Status
Active
Party
Democratic Party
Era
Civil Rights Era
Impact Context
Removed an important barrier used to suppress poor and disproportionately Black voters.
What This Policy Did
Removed an important barrier used to suppress poor and disproportionately Black voters.
Share This Card
This page is meant to stand on its own. The link is stable and readable out of context.
Sources
National Archives • Archive • Mar 13, 2024
National Archives page explaining that the 24th Amendment prohibited poll taxes in federal elections and notes that poll taxes had long been used to disenfranchise poor voters and people of color.
National Archives • Government • Feb 12, 2025
National Archives voting-rights overview identifying the 24th Amendment as part of the constitutional and statutory chain of voting-rights protections.
National Archives • Government
National Archives page reproducing the text of the 24th Amendment and its prohibition on denial or abridgment of the vote because of failure to pay a poll tax or other tax in federal elections.