Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections
| Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections | |
|---|---|
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| Argued January 25–26, 1966 Decided March 24, 1966 |
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| Full case name | Annie E. Harper, et al. v. Virginia 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
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| Prior history | Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia |
| Holding | |
| A State's conditioning of the right to vote on the payment of a fee or tax violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Douglas, joined by Warren, Clark, Brennan, White, Fortas |
| Dissent | Black |
| Dissent | Harlan and Stewart |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV | |
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This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings
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| Breedlove v. Suttles (1937) | |
Harper v. Virginia 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. 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 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.
The case was filed by Virginia resident Annie E. Harper, who was unable to register without having to pay a poll tax. She brought the suit against the Virginia State Board of Elections on behalf of other poor residents and herself. Harper had previously argued the case before a U.S. district court on October 21, 1964, where it was consolidated with a similar case filed by Evelyn Thomas Butts, Butts v. Harrison, Governor of Virginia and argued under the name Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections. In the initial case lawyers for Harper and Butts argued against the constitutionality of the poll tax, but on November 12 the courts dismissed the case, citing 1930s precedents established by the United States Supreme Court.
Harper quickly appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, but in a separate case from Butts. Butts later appealed in a separate suit, but the two cases were argued together during late January 1966.
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