This day in history- January 23rd:The 24th Amendment ended poll tax

Photo: Constitutioncenter.org

On January 23, 1964, the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited any type of poll tax in elections in US elections. This was in reaction to the era when many Southern states adopted poll taxes in the late 1800′s. This meant that even though the 15th Amendment granted former slaves the right to vote, many poor people, both blacks and whites, did not have enough money to vote.