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A poll tax is a tax of a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Various privileges of citizenship, including voter registration or issuance of driving licenses and resident hunting and fishing licenses, were conditioned on payment of poll taxes to encourage the collection of this tax revenue.
Still, efforts at the Congressional level to abolish the poll tax continued. A 1939 bill to abolish the poll tax in federal elections was tied up by the Southern Bloc, lawmakers whose long tenure in office from a one-party region gave them seniority and command of numerous important committee chairmanships.
Bills were reintroduced in 1943, 1945, 1947, and 1948 to remove the payment of poll taxes as a condition to vote. Each proposed legislation passed the House, but was blocked in the Senate. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The Cold War climate, which brought about the Red Scare , McCarthyism , and investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee , made ...
Poll taxes are regressive, meaning the higher someone's income is, the lower the tax is as a proportion of income: for example, a $100 tax on an income of $10,000 is a 1% tax rate, while $100 tax on a $500 income is 20%. Its acceptance or "neutrality" depends on the balance between the tax demanded and the resources of the population.
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In Florida turnout was 46 percent higher for the 1940 presidential election than in 1936 [118] [249] and in Tennessee turnout rose 12 percent after poll taxes were abolished. [249] When Alabama eliminated payment of poll taxes in 1953 for citizens over 45, an additional 200,000 white women registered to vote the following year. [250]
Poll taxes are abolished in Pennsylvania. [citation needed] 1935. Grovey v. Townsend decides that the Democratic Party, as private organization, can determine who is allowed to join and therefore vote in the primaries. [36] 1937. Breedlove v. Suttles was heard by the Supreme Court which decides that Georgia is allowed to impose a poll tax ...
Capitation taxes, also known as poll taxes, were initially created in the 1890s. Poll taxes are a fixed tax on individuals, regardless of income; voters must pay the tax before they are permitted to cast a ballot. These taxes were occasionally paired with literacy tests to prove qualification to vote. [3] Revenue from poll taxes acted as a ...