Which amendment prohibited poll taxes, a tactic used to suppress African American voting in some states?

Which amendment prohibited poll taxes, a tactic used to suppress African American voting in some states?

• A. Twenty-Fourth Amendment
• B. Twenty-First Amendment
• C. Nineteenth Amendment
• D. Thirteenth Amendment

Answer: (A)

Poll taxes were used to keep African Americans from voting by requiring a payment to cast a ballot. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment bans such poll taxes in elections for federal offices, removing that barrier to participation. Over time, courts interpreted this to apply to state elections as well, further securing voting rights. The other amendments deal with different issues—women's suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and Prohibition—so they don't address the ban on poll taxes.

Poll taxes were used to keep African Americans from voting by requiring a payment to cast a ballot. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment bans such poll taxes in elections for federal offices, removing that barrier to participation. Over time, courts interpreted this to apply to state elections as well, further securing voting rights. The other amendments deal with different issues—women's suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and Prohibition—so they don't address the ban on poll taxes.