Low income citizens cannot afford to pay the poll taxes.
If they don't pay poll taxes, they can't vote.
Incidentally, poll taxes have been outlawed in the United States.
A poll tax was a fee required to vote. A person who who could not or did not want to pay the fee could not vote. Poll taxes discouraged ex-slaves from voting.
pay for african's to eat corn bread and their mama's good southern cookin'
The poll taxes prevented black males from voting and denied them a voice in the government.
poll taxes
Poll taxes.
Ten Southern states implemented literacy tests and poll taxes to disenfranchise black citizens. These were done effectively through the passage of the Black Codes.
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The "poll tax" is now considered unconstitutional.
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1964, prohibits the use of poll taxes in federal elections. This amendment aimed to eliminate financial barriers that disenfranchised voters, particularly African Americans and low-income citizens, from participating in the electoral process. By abolishing poll taxes, the amendment reinforced the principle that voting should be accessible to all citizens regardless of their economic status.
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Most forms of taxes allow for some flexibility about who pays what. Income taxes are intended to tax people according to their income (although of course there are many tax loopholes). Sales taxes apply when you buy certain types of things, and you have the option of not buying those things if they are too expensive. A poll tax, however, simply requires everybody to pay the same tax. It is just a tax on being a citizen. Rich and poor citizens pay the same. Thus, it will be a hardship for some people.
Poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause.