Harper v. Virginia Bd. Of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966)

"The Equal Protection Clause is not shackled to the political theory of a particular era."

Virginia, 1964. If you want to vote in this state -- or Alabama, Mississippi, or Texas, you have to pay. A poll tax; it's not much, a buck or two. One Virginian, Annie Harper, believes any amount is too much. She sues.

Past Supreme Courts had approved poll taxes. The Supreme Court of 1966 declares them unconstitutional. "We have never been confined to historic notions of equality. The Equal Protection Clause is not shackled to the political theory of a particular era." Justice Douglas writes: "Wealth or fee paying has, in our view, no relation to voting qualifications; the right to vote is too precious, too fundamental, to be so burdened."

For more...

Frontline: The Constitution And Campaign Finance PBS

Can you Afford to Vote? America's Library

The 24th Amendment Ended the Poll Tax January 23, 1964

AMENDMENT 14 Due Process and Equal Protection of the Law

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. [^].

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