Poll Taxes

Discussing the history and background of the poll tax and how it was abolished through the Twenty-Fourth Amendment. Arguing against the practice of prohibiting felons from voting until they have satisfied outstanding legal financial obligations. 

Arguing that the Court should apply the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to voter identification laws. Contending they are the equivalent of the poll tax and that they impede the “one person, one vote” standard. Discussing the history underlying the ratification of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and the first case brought under the Amendment.

Arguing that the Twenty-Fourth Amendment is ironically superfluous. Explaining that the Court has only used it once–to strike down a poll tax in a federal election–and that it has since been “silent.”

Describing and analyzing the origins and applications of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment’s phrase “poll tax or other tax.” Discussing the indirect financial burdens that may function as “other taxes” impeding the right to vote. Concluding that costs far removed from those a voter incurs do not qualify as unconstitutional under the Amendment.

Claiming that most scholars do not pay enough attention to the phrase “or other tax” in the Twenty-Fourth Amendment. Arguing that the drafting history of the Amendment suggests that “poll tax or other tax” was to be read broadly at that time in history but proposing that the conventional application of the Amendment should be more narrow.