August 1, 1940
The Sentinel concluded, “We will never be able to enforce our citizenship rights until our right of suffrage is secure and we will never have that right of suffrage until the poll tax is wiped off the statute books of every state.”
The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ratified in January 1964) outlawed poll taxes for federal elections. At the time five states maintained poll tax laws: Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. The Supreme Court banned poll taxes in state elections in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966)