Which Supreme Court ruling extended the ban on poll taxes to state-level elections?

• A. Reynolds v. Sims
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Buck v. Bell
• D. Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections

Answer: (D)

Poll taxes barred voting access in state elections when the decision applied equal protection to all citizens, not just those who could afford to pay. The Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that wealth-based voting requirements violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the 24th Amendment had already prohibited poll taxes in federal elections, this decision extended that prohibition to elections conducted by the states, ensuring that the right to vote cannot be conditioned on paying a tax.

This case is separate from Reynolds v. Sims, which centered on equal representation in legislative districts; Brown v. Board of Education dealt with school desegregation; and Buck v. Bell concerned eugenics and sterilization.