What is a poll tax?
A poll tax, also known as a head tax or capitation tax, is a type of tax that involves a fixed sum levied on every liable individual, typically every adult, without regard to their income or resources.
Key Characteristics
- It is a uniform amount charged to each individual, regardless of their financial situation245.
- Historically, poll taxes have been used as a source of government revenue, dating back to colonial times in the United States and earlier in English history24.
Historical Context in the United States
- Initially, after the American Revolution, poll taxes were introduced in some states (such as New Hampshire, Delaware, Georgia, and North Carolina) to expand suffrage by allowing men to vote if they paid any state tax, thereby enabling virtually universal white male suffrage in these areas by 17911.
- However, following the Reconstruction era, poll taxes became a tool of disenfranchisement, particularly in the Southern states. They were used to restrict voting rights, especially for African Americans and poor whites, by making payment of the poll tax a prerequisite for voter registration. These taxes were often cumulative, meaning that unpaid taxes from previous years had to be paid before one could vote235.
- The taxes were designed to be difficult to comply with, especially for sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and other low-income individuals who had limited cash income and frequently moved. Complex record-keeping requirements and the need to produce receipts at the polls further hindered voting23.
Legal and Social Impact
- The poll tax was a significant component of the Jim Crow laws, which aimed to disenfranchise African American voters. It was often combined with literacy tests and other forms of voter suppression235.
- The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1964, prohibited the federal and state governments from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on the payment of a poll tax or any other tax. The U.S. Supreme Court later extended this prohibition to state and local elections in the 1966 case Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections5.