Poll taxes have a long and contentious history in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Payment of the tax first became a requirement for voting in 1876, as part of an effort to make it more difficult for African Americans and poor whites to participate in elections. Beginning in 1904, Virginians could not register to vote without presenting proof of having paid the poll tax for each of the three years preceding an election.
In March of 1966, in the case of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional. In 1970, the Virginia Constitution omitted authorization of the General Assembly to make payment of a poll tax a prerequisite for voting.
]]>Poll taxes have a long and contentious history in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Payment of the tax first became a requirement for voting in 1876, as part of an effort to make it more difficult for African Americans and poor whites to participate in elections. Beginning in 1904, Virginians could not register to vote without presenting proof of having paid the poll tax for each of the three years preceding an election.
In March of 1966, in the case of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional. In 1970, the Virginia Constitution omitted authorization of the General Assembly to make payment of a poll tax a prerequisite for voting.
This handbill was produced during Crusade for Voters campaign in 1976.
The Crusade for Voters in Richmond, Virginia was started by John Mitchell Brooks, Dr. William S. Thornton, Dr. William Ferguson Reid, Ethel T. Overby and Lola Hamilton.
Excerpts:
WAKE UP! Richmond, Va.
Voters Needed
50,000 or more Voters
Needed to say that I am a citizen on election day
Down with apathy
Down with unemployment
Don't let the newspaper lull you to sleep
Be alert! Be a card carrying voter
Any U.S. Citizen who will be 18 years or older before November 2, 1976 is eligible to vote
IT IS FREE
All Applicants MUST have their Social Security Number and know their birthdate. You must apply in person - no one can register for you.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN PURGED - PLEASE REGISTER.
...
"YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IT" YOUR ONE VOTE DOES COUNT
This 1933 booklet provides “a list of persons in Jefferson Ward in the City of Richmond, who have paid their State Poll Taxes.” Poll taxes were enacted by many southern states after Reconstruction to suppress African American voting. Such taxes were a precondition for voting and thus disenfranchised those who could not pay the fee.
Use of the poll tax in federal elections was abolished with the passage of the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964, and in state-level elections by the 1966 Supreme Court decision in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.
The booklet is divided into “WHITE” voters, listed in the first 274 pages, and “COLORED” voters, listed on pages 275 to 304.
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Acknowledgement of the Virginia Historical Society as a source is requested.