Though the 24th Amendment had abolished poll taxes for federal elections, it left state and local elections untouched. Congress is considering the Save America Act, a Republican-backed bill mandating that every voter provide in-person proof of citizenship and an appropriate photo identification to access the ballot box. Once implemented, poll taxes also disenfranchised poor and working-class White voters. In Virginia, it denied about half of White voters the right to vote, an effect that experts warn the Save America Act will replicate. The Save America Act, like Virginia’s poll tax, is designed to do the former.

Source: Washington Post March 25, 2026 17:32 UTC