| Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued January 25–26, 1966 Decided March 24, 1966 | |
| Full case name | Annie E. Harper, et al. v. Virginia State Board of Elections, et al. |
| Citations | 383 U.S. 663 (more) 86 S. Ct. 1079; 16 L. Ed. 2d 169; 1966 U.S. LEXIS 2905 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 240 F. Supp. 270 (E.D. Va. 1964); probable jurisdiction noted, 380 U.S. 930 (1965). |
| Holding | |
| Laws which specify payment requirements to vote in elections violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Douglas, joined by Warren, Clark, Brennan, White, Fortas |
| Dissent | Black |
| Dissent | Harlan, joined by Stewart |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV | |
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings | |
| Breedlove v. Suttles (1937) | |
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966), was a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia's poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.[1] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eleven southern states established poll taxes as part of their disenfranchisement of most blacks and many poor whites. The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1964) prohibited poll taxes in federal elections; five states (Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia) continued to require poll taxes for voters in state elections. By this ruling, the Supreme Court banned the use of poll taxes in state elections.