Poll taxes were used to disenfranchise African Americans, poor people and others deemed undesirable. The 24th Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections outlawed poll taxes. The Supreme court in its decision noted that “a state violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution whenever it makes the affluence of the voter or payment of any fee an electoral standard. Voter qualifications have no relation to wealth.”
If state legislatures are enacting voter ID laws that require a photo ID order to vote, they must in also provide those photo IDs at no charge to its residents. To force voters to get an ID which they must pay money for en effect makes the payment of a fee an electoral standard which is a clear violation of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections.
Why is this important?
Voter ID laws are a new form of Poll tax that requires eligible voters to in effect pay a fee to vote. Please think about this and if you agree pass this message along to your state and federal representatives.
