Twenty-fourth Amendment bans poll taxes in federal elections

The Twenty-fourth Amendment is ratified on January 23, 1964, banning poll taxes in federal elections. Poll taxes had been used across the South to keep Black citizens and poor citizens from voting. The amendment does not immediately eliminate all poll taxes in state elections, but it marks a major constitutional rejection of one Jim Crow voting barrier. The Supreme Court later strikes down state poll taxes under the Equal Protection Clause. The amendment removes a financial barrier that helped enforce racial voter suppression for decades.