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United States Constitution

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Original text of the Constitution
Preamble

Articles of the Constitution
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Amendments to the Constitution
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XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV ∙ XV
XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX
XXI ∙ XXII ∙ XXIII ∙ XXIV ∙ XXV
XXVI ∙ XXVII

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Amendment XXIV (the Twenty-fourth Amendment) prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. The amendment was proposed by Congress to the states on August 27, 1962, and was ratified by the states on January 23, 1964.

Poll taxes had been enacted in 11 Southern states after Reconstruction as a measure to prevent African Americans from voting, and had been held to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. At the time of this amendment's passage, only five states still retained a poll tax: Virginia, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. However, it wasn't until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966) that all state poll taxes (for both state and federal elections) were officially declared unconstitutional, because they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Text

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Proposal and ratification

Congress proposed the Twenty-fourth Amendment on August 27, 1962.[1] The following states ratified the amendment:

1. Illinois (November 14, 1962)
2. New Mexico (December 3, 1962)
3. Oregon (January 25, 1963)
4. Montana (January 28, 1963)
5. West Virginia (February 1, 1963)
6. New York (February 4, 1963)
7. Maryland (February 6, 1963)
8. California (February 7, 1963)
9. Alaska (February 11, 1963)
10. Rhode Island (February 14, 1963)
11. Indiana (February 19, 1963)
12. Utah (February 20, 1963)
13. Michigan (February 20, 1963)
14. Colorado (February 21, 1963)
15. Ohio (February 27, 1963)
16. Minnesota (February 27, 1963)
17. New Jersey March 5, 1963)
18. Hawaii (March 6, 1963)
19. North Dakota (March 7, 1963)
20. Idaho (March 8, 1963)
21. Washington (March 14, 1963)
22. Vermont (March 15, 1963)
23. Nevada (March 19, 1963)
24. Connecticut (March 20, 1963)
25. Tennessee (March 21, 1963)
26. Pennsylvania (March 25, 1963)
27. Wisconsin (March 26, 1963)
28. Kansas (March 28, 1963)
29. Massachusetts (March 28, 1963)
30. Nebraska (April 4, 1963)
31. Florida (April 18, 1963)
32. Iowa (April 24, 1963)
33. Delaware (May 1, 1963)
34. Missouri (May 13, 1963)
35. New Hampshire (June 12, 1963)
36. Kentucky (June 27, 1963)
37. Maine (January 16, 1964)
38. South Dakota (January 23, 1964)

Ratification was completed on January 23, 1964. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states:

1. Virginia (February 25, 1977)
2. North Carolina (May 3, 1989)
3. Alabama (2002)
4. Texas (May 22, 2009)

This amendment was specifically rejected by the following state:

1. Mississippi (December 20, 1962)

The following states have not ratified the amendment:

1. Arizona
2. Arkansas
3. Georgia
4. Louisiana
5. Oklahoma
6. South Carolina
7. Wyoming

References

1. ^  

External links

• National Archives: 24th Amendment
• CRS Annotated Constitution: 24th Amendment

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