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#uselections

3 posts1 participant0 posts today
Public
DoomsdaysCW

What Is A #PollTax? Definition and Examples

By Robert Longley, July 27, 2022

Excerpt: "In the United States, the origin of the poll tax—and the controversy surrounding it—is associated with the agrarian unrest of the 1880s and 1890s, which culminated in the rise of the Populist Party in the Western and the Southern states. The Populists, representing low-income farmers, gave Democrats in these areas the only serious competition that they had experienced since the end of Reconstruction. The competition led both parties to see the need to attract Black citizens back into politics and to compete for their vote. As the Democrats defeated the Populists, they amended their state constitutions or drafted new ones to include various discriminatory disfranchising devices. When the payment of the poll tax was made a prerequisite to voting, impoverished #BlackPeople and often #PoorWhitePeople, unable to afford the tax, were denied the #RightToVote.

"During the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era in the United States, the former states of the Confederacy repurposed the poll tax explicitly to prevent formerly enslaved #BlackAmericans from voting. Although the #14thAmendment and #15thAmendment [s] gave Black men full #citizenship and #VotingRights, the power to determine what constituted a qualified voter was left to the states. Beginning with Mississippi in 1890, #SouthernStates quickly exploited this legal loophole. At its 1890 constitutional convention, Mississippi imposed a $2.00 poll tax and early registration as a requirement for voting. This had catastrophic results for the Black electorate. Whereas approximately 87,000 Black citizens registered to vote in 1869, representing almost 97% of the eligible voting-age population, fewer than 9,000 of them registered to vote after the state’s new constitution took effect in 1892.

"Between 1890 and 1902, all eleven former #Confederate states imposed some form of a poll tax to deter Black Americans from voting. The tax, which ranged from $1 to $2, was prohibitively expensive for most Black sharecroppers, who earned their wages in crops, not currency. Beyond the cost, voter registration and tax payment offices were usually located in public spaces designed to intimidate potential voters, like courthouses and police stations.

"The southern states also enacted #JimCrowLaws intended to reinforce #RacialSegregation and restrict Black voting rights. Along with the poll tax, most of these states also imposed literacy tests, which required potential voters to read and interpret in writing sections of the state constitution. So-called 'grandfather clauses' allowed a person to vote without paying the poll tax or passing the literacy test if their father or grandfather had voted before the abolition of slavery in 1865; a stipulation that automatically precluded all formerly enslaved persons. Together, the grandfather clause and the literacy tests effectively restored voting rights to poorer White voters who could not pay the poll tax, while further suppressing the Black vote.

"Poll taxes of varying stipulations lingered in Southern states well into the 20th century. While some states abolished the tax in the years after World War I, others retained it. Ratified in 1964, the #24thAmendment to the #USConstitution declared the tax unconstitutional in federal elections.

"Specifically, the 24th Amendment states:

'The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.'

"President Lyndon B. Johnson called the amendment a 'triumph of liberty over restriction.' 'It is a verification of people's rights, which are rooted so deeply in the mainstream of this nation's history,' he said.

"The #VotingRightsAct of 1965 created significant changes in the voting status of Black Americans throughout the South. The law prohibited the states from using literacy tests and other methods of excluding Black Americans from voting. Before this, only an estimated twenty-three percent of voting-age Black citizens were registered nationally, but by 1969 the number had jumped to sixty-one percent.

"In 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court went beyond the Twenty-fourth Amendment by ruling in the case of Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, states could not levy a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in state and local elections. In two months in the spring of 1966, federal courts declared poll tax laws unconstitutional in the last four states that still had them, starting with Texas on February 9. Similar decisions soon followed in Alabama and Virginia. Mississippi's $2.00 poll tax (about $18 today) was the last to fall, declared unconstitutional on April 8, 1966."

thoughtco.com/poll-tax-definit
#VoterDisenfranchisement #USPol #USHistory #TwentyFourthAmendment #FourteenthAmendment #FifteenthAmendment #VoterRights #LiteracyTests #USElections #VoterSuppression #BlackAmericans

ThoughtCoWhat Is A Poll Tax? Definition and ExamplesA poll tax was a fee levied as a condition of voting. In the US, poll taxes were used in the South to prevent Black people from voting.
Public
DoomsdaysCW

#Oklahoma: Oklahoma House Passes Stricter #VoterID, Awaits Senate Scrutiny

By Amelia Claire Grant, March 29, 2025

"The Oklahoma House has given its nod to a new bill that ratchets up voter ID regulations; if you're planning on voting in 2027, you'll need to show a picture of yourself.

"The legislation dubbed House Bill 1005, spearheaded by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, is now one step closer to becoming law after coasting through the House with significant support, as reported by the Oklahoma House of Representatives' official site.

"Here's the deal: Should #HB1005 get the final thumbs up, Service Oklahoma is going to pair up with the Secretary of the State Election Board and get cracking on providing free photo IDs for voters, because everyone hustling to the polls will need to flash one—this applies whether you’re rocking up to vote in person or opting to mail in an absentee ballot."

Read more:
hoodline.com/2025/03/oklahoma-
#VoterDisenfranchisement #Elections #OklahomaPol #USPol #VoterID #VoterIDAct #AbsenteeVoting #AbsenteeBallots #USElections

Public
DoomsdaysCW

#Maine: As Maine eyes voter ID law, Trump order tightens federal registration rules

by Caroline LeCour, March 27, 2025

"As Maine voters eye a statewide voter ID proposal, a new #ExecutiveOrder from President Donald #Trump is adding another layer to the conversation around election integrity and access.

"The order signed Wednesday would require proof of #USCitizenship to register for #FederalElections and mandate that all ballots be received by Election Day—a change from the current system in many states that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to count if received later.

"Though separate from Maine's voter ID proposal—which addresses identification at the polls rather than registration—some in the state see a common goal.

"'This is a policy, different policies to strengthen our elections, to increase confidence of voters to participate in our democratic process,' #AlexTitcomb, of the grassroots organization The Dinner Table, [a #Conservative #PAC] said. The group spared Maine's voter ID proposal, which was certified by the Maine Secretary of State earlier this year.

"Critics argue that requiring documents many voters may not readily have—especially those whose names may not match across forms of ID—could discourage legitimate voters from participating.

"'A lot of married women have changed their names, some of their documents don't match up,' Jen Lancaster, with the League of Women Voters of Maine, said. 'Maybe they don't have the perfect document, and they get turned away. That's what #VoterSuppression is. It's eligible voters being denied their right to vote.'

"Lancaster says the executive order is likely to face legal challenges, echoing concerns from national #VotingRights organizations."

Read more:
msn.com/en-us/news/politics/as
#VoterDisenfranchisement #Elections #MainePol #USPol #VoterID #VoterIDAct #LeagueOfWomenVoters #AbsenteeVoting #AbsenteeBallots #VoterID #SAVEAct #USElections

www.msn.comMSN
Public
de.hypotheses

In #USElections, the Democratic Party has traditionally been able to count on the #Latino vote. Not so in 2024: Many blamed the Latino community for the outcome of the election. Angela X. Ocampo from the University of Texas at Austin sheds light on the political behavior and priorities of this important and diverse voting bloc 👇

hciasblog.hypotheses.org/3300

HCIAS BlogBlogcast: The Latino Vote in the 2024 U.S. Presidential ElectionIn the latest episode of the HCIAS podcast, Dr. Yaatsil Guevara González, Junior Professor for Migration and the Americas at...
#hypoverse#Trump#Latinx
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Paula Borchardt

Here’s my comic of my wish for 2025: Peace on Earth (yes, that’s me in the comic). 😀 Let’s “wage peace” this year, as 1 of my friends says! Here’s hoping peace, respect, inclusion, honesty, & integrity make significant inroads in 2025! You can see my initial pencil sketches of this art on my latest blog post paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/

My December 2024 watercolor & pen comic in 3 panels: (1) I'm saying "Every December, for as long as I can recall, I've asked for the same present under the tree"; (2) a Christmas ornament with the words Peace on Earth on it; (3) I'm saying "I haven't gotten it yet, but I still hold onto the hope that I'll see peace in my lifetime".
#art#illustration#watercolor
Public
Tony Stark

Democrats in the 2 winning races overperformed Kamala Harris’ November margin by about 3%.

There will be a few more final mail ballots and provisional ballots, which should add to the Democratic numbers a little bit more.

I wrote some postcards and did some text banking for these races. Please keep volunteering and working on elections. It matters. #Virginia #USElections

Virginia Democrats maintain narrow legislative majorities after special election wins:
nbcnews.com/politics/elections

NBC News · Virginia Democrats maintain narrow legislative majorities after special election winsBy Adam Edelman
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Rich Stein (he/him)

Interesting OpEd —
[About the authors: "Evan Davis was editor in chief of the Columbia Law Review and David Schulte was editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal. Both clerked for Justice Potter Stewart. Davis is a New York lawyer who served as president of the New York City Bar, and Schulte is a Chicago investment banker."
thehill.com/opinion/congress-b
h/t @heidilifeldman
🧵 mastodon.social/@heidilifeldma
#insurrection #14A #Constitution #USpol #USpolitics #USelections #election #elections

Public *
Rich Stein (he/him)

Actions have consequences — eventually:

"The United States Congress faces a Friday deadline to pass a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, or else face the shuttering of nonessential government functions."

"trump and his allies have pressured Republicans in the United States to ditch a short-term spending bill designed to avert a government shutdown."
aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/19/
#USpol #USpolitics #USelections #election #Republicans #Congress #budget #Budget2025 #GovernmentShutDown #DOGE

Al Jazeera · Facing government shutdown, Trump and Republican allies scuttle budget billBy Al Jazeera Staff
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