Replies

Yes. The poll tax, in the sense of a discriminatory tax which was a pre-condition of the exercise of the right to vote, emerged in some U.S. states between the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. After the right to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the 15th Amendment, many Southern states enacted poll tax laws which often included a grandfather clause that allowed any adult male whose father or grandfather had voted to vote without paying the tax. These laws achieved the desired effect of disenfranchising African and Native Americans, as well as whites of non-British descent.

The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, outlawed the use of this tax (or any other tax) as a pre-condition in voting in Federal elections. The 1966 Supreme Court case Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections extended this explicit enactment as a matter of judicial interpretation of a more general provision, ruling that the imposition of a poll tax in state elections violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (This is one of several quizzical rulings that rely on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment rather than the more direct provision of the 15th.)

I sispect the Arizona law will be similarly challenged in Court.

This has already been to the 9th circuit and they actually ruled our prop 200 -- including showing ID to vote -- is legally binding... shocked me since I was certain the 9th would shoot it down.

Prop 200 was very carefully written and even with McCain coming out against it all over the state, it passed with a large majority. I understand Colorado is working on getting their own proposition on the ballot based on our initiative.