Poll taxes were historically used to disenfranchise which groups most notably?

• A. Wealthy elites
• B. African Americans and poor whites
• C. Immigrant communities
• D. Rural farmers

Answer: (B)

Poll taxes were a way to restrict voting by making people pay a fee to cast a ballot. In the Jim Crow era, Southern states used this financial barrier to curb political power, especially by targeting African Americans who faced systemic racism and widespread poverty. While some poor whites could also be affected, the combination of racial discrimination and economic hardship meant that the groups most notably disenfranchised were African Americans and poor whites. This is why the option identifying those two groups best captures who was most impacted. For context, later constitutional changes—like the 24th Amendment banning poll taxes in federal elections and the Supreme Court ruling against poll taxes in state elections—helped remove this barrier to voting.