Which 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case struck down state poll taxes in elections?

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections was the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down state poll taxes in elections.

The case began when Annie Harper challenged Virginia’s $1.50 poll tax, which was required for voting in state elections. The Supreme Court ruled on March 24, 1966, that conditioning the right to vote on payment of a fee violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision extended the constitutional attack on poll taxes beyond federal elections. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, had already prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. Harper made such taxes unconstitutional in state elections as well.

The ruling is sometimes confused with the Twenty-Fourth Amendment or with Gomillion v. Lightfoot, another important voting-rights case. Harper specifically addressed a monetary barrier to voting. Its broader principle was that wealth or payment of a fee could not determine whether a citizen could participate in elections.