Changes

This Amendment was the culmination of an effort in Congress beginning in 1939 to eliminate the poll tax as a qualification for voting in federal elections. Property ownership conditions on voting extend back to colonial days, but the poll tax itself began in eleven States of the South after the end of Reconstruction.  Only five States still retained the poll tax as of the time of ratification of this Amendment in 1964.

This Amendment was the culmination of an effort in Congress beginning in 1939 to eliminate the poll tax as a qualification for voting in federal elections. Property ownership conditions on voting extend back to colonial days, but the poll tax itself began in eleven States of the South after the end of Reconstruction.  Only five States still retained the poll tax as of the time of ratification of this Amendment in 1964.