December 20, 2010

The Poll Tax Amendment passed in 1892 required the payment of one dollar for the privilege of voting in Arkansas elections, both state and federal. The law, which required voters to show proof of tax payment by presenting a receipt, like the one shown here from Van Buren County, was mainly an attempt to deny suffrage to African-American citizens. The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed in 1964, removed the requirement for federal elections. Arkansas voided the tax that same year with Amendment 51 to the state constitution.