Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Definition and Overview

Amendment XXIV (the Twenty-fourth Amendment) of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll or other type 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 eleven Southern states after Reconstruction as a measure to prevent poor black people from voting. At the time of this amendment's passage, only five states still retained a poll tax.

The full text of this amendment follows:

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 poll tax or other tax.

Section 2.

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

External link

• National Archives: 24th Amendment (http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html#24)