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第24项宪法修正案废除了人头税 (Poll
Tax) ：1964年1月23日
许多南方州在1800年代末期还继续征收人头税。这也代表虽然第15项宪法修正案赋予过去的奴隶有投票的权利，但是许多贫穷的人民，不管是黑人或白人，也还是没有足够的钱能够投票。
「你知道在我的一生中，因为人头税的缘故，我都无法行使我的公民权利？」乔治亚州亚特兰大市楚特先生 (Mr.
Trout) 在接受美国生活历史 (American
Life Histories) 派克先生 (Mr.
Pike) 访问时做了如上的回答。
在楚特先生说了这些话的20年后，人头税终于被废除了。在第24项宪法修正案的通过典礼上，林登．詹森 (Lydon
Johnson) 总统指出：「绝对不能有人因为太穷而无法投票。」因为这项修正案的通过，所有美国公民的自由投票权利才能得到确保。
Many Southern states adopted a poll tax in the late 1800s. This meant that even though the 15th Amendment gave former slaves the right to vote, many poor people, both blacks and whites, did not have enough money to vote.
"Do you know I've never voted in my life, never been able to exercise my right as a citizen because of the poll tax?"
"Mr. Trout" to Mr. Pike, interviewer, Atlanta, Georgia. American Life Histories, 1936 - 1940.
More than 20 years after "Mr. Trout" spoke those words, the poll tax was abolished. At the ceremony in 1964 formalizing the 24th Amendment, President Lyndon Johnson noted that: "There can be no one too poor to vote." Thanks to the 24th Amendment, the right of all U.S. citizens to freely cast their votes has been secured.
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