A Modern Poll Tax

California Law Review

Although the Twenty Fourth Amendment has received little attention since its ratification, the Amendment may provide a basis for combatting unconstitutional voter reenfranchisement schemes that condition the right to vote on money payments to the government. Author: Elizabeth Heckmann, 2022 Graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law Host: Taylor Graham Technology Editors: Hiep Nguyen (Volume 111 Senior Technology Editor), Taylor Graham (Volume 111 Technology Editor), Benji Martinez (Volume 111 Technology Editor) Soundtrack: Composed and performed by Carter Jansen (Volume 110 Technology Editor) Article Abstract: The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution has received little attention from federal courts since its ratification. The Amendment’s language is broad and far-ranging, prohibiting conditioning the right to vote on payment of poll taxes or “any other” tax. Although the Amendment’s text, its legislative history, and early Supreme Court decisions strongly indicate that the law’s drafters intended to eliminate any and all wealth-based qualifications on voting, many states continue to require people convicted of felonies to pay money to the government before regaining their right to vote. Some litigators have used the Amendment to combat felon re-enfranchisement schemes that unconstitutionally condition access to the ballot box on payment of legal financial obligations (LFOs) associated with the person’s criminal sentence. Most recently, the Eleventh Circuit addressed Florida voters’ challenge to the Florida Senate’s interpretation of Amendment 4, which automatically re-enfranchised people convicted of felonies when they completed “all terms of [their] sentence,” including LFOs. This Note explores the lower court’s and Eleventh Circuit’s analyses of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, as well as challenges and solutions to using the Amendment in the future to combat unconstitutional re-enfranchisement schemes conditioning the right to vote on a money payment to the government. Part I discusses the history of felon disenfranchisement and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, as well as major Supreme Court decisions applying the Amendment to voting laws. Part II analyzes the line of Federal District Court and Eleventh Circuit decisions addressing Florida’s Amendment 4 and whether requiring people convicted of felonies to pay all LFOs before regaining the right to vote violates the Twenty-Fourth Amendment. Part III explores why the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling is not in line with the Amendment’s text and history, nor with the Supreme Court’s Twenty-Fourth Amendment or tax jurisprudence.