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Poll Taxes Are Ruled Unconstitutional

1966

In Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court overrules its earlier decision in Breedlove v. Suttles (1937) and declares that the use of a poll tax at state elections is unconstitutional. The Court holds that discrimination based on economic status is in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result of this ruling and the passage of the Twenty-fourth Amendment, poll taxes can no longer be used in federal or state elections.