Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections

Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Virginia imposed a $1.50 poll tax as a requirement for voting in state elections. Annie Harper, a Virginia resident, challenged the poll tax as violating the Equal Protection Clause. The state argued that the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (which banned poll taxes in federal elections) did not apply to state elections.

Significance

Justice Douglas’s 6-3 opinion struck down the poll tax in state elections. The Court held that the Equal Protection Clause prohibits wealth-based discrimination in voting. ‘A state violates the Equal Protection Clause whenever it makes the affluence of the voter or payment of any fee an electoral standard.’ Overruling Breedlove v. Suttles (1937), the decision eliminated economic barriers to voting and further expanded the franchise.

Category

US Federal Case Law