PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF STATE POLL TAX PROVISIONS ALABAMA Authority-Age, 21-45; amount $1.50. The tax must be paid in the county in which the person paying legally resides, when the tax is due. The taxpayer must be a resident of the State. Sex, male and female. Citation. Title 51, section 237-248, Alabama constitution; article VIII, section 194, amendments 1941⁄2, XC, CIX. Purposes.-Shall be applied in aid of school funds in the counties that levied and collected. Eremption.-Person totally disabled from gainful employment whose property doesn't exceed $500. Every officer, enlisted man in the National Guard on active duty. Payment and Collection.-Poll tax receipts with blanks for name, color, sex, address, precinct, or ward and year and date of payment. Time: After 1st day of February and before 1st day of the next October. The tax collector has no authority to receive taxes. Separate accounts by races. Special exemption.-Persons who honorably served in the military between January 1, 1917, and November 11, 1918. Limitation on tax collector.-A tax collector cannot receive taxes after 1st day of February before the 1st day of next October,' although he has misinformed a taxpayer as to the amount of poll tax. ARKANSAS Authority.-Age, over 21; amount, $1; sex, male and female. Payment must be made to the county collector, or his deputy, by the person named, or by husband, wife, son, daughter, sister, brother, father, or mother. Citation. Arkansas article XIV, section 3, amendment 40, section 1. Purposes. For support of common schools. Payment and collection.-Tuesday, October 2, up to Wednesday including October 1, of the succeeding year. Residence requirements.-12 months in the State, 6 months in the county, 1 month in the precinct, town, or ward. DELAWARE Authority. Age, every citizen over 21. Legislature to provide for levying and collecting capitation tax from every citizen 21 and up; to be uniform throughout. Citation.-Delaware article VIII, section 5. Purposes.-Limited to county in which collected. FLORIDA Authority.-Legislature may provide for levying special capitation tax not to exceed $1 a year. Citation. Florida article IX, section 5. Purposes. To go into school fund, and be applied exclusively to common school purposes. To be used for county and municipal purposes. Exemption.-National Guard on active duty. KENTUCKY Authority.-Every adult male person. The legislative body of each city of the second to sixth class may levy a poll tax not exceeding $1.50. The due date of the tax shall be advertised by publication. Citation.-Kentucky section 180. Purposes.-Use for city purposes. Exemptions.-Citizens over 65 and totally disabled service men. 1 Code of Alabama, title 51, sec. 243. MAINE Authority. Public expenses shall be assessed on polls. Amount, $3. Age, over 21; every male inhabitant. Citation.-Maine article IX, section 7. Purposes. For the protection which the government gives to a person and to property. Payment and collection.-The poll tax shall be accessed on each taxable person in the place where he is an inhabitant on the 1st day of each April. Residence requirements.-Must be an inhabitant. Special Exemptions.-Satisfaction of the poll tax is a prerequisite to granting of motor vehicle license and registration. MASSACHUSETTS Authority. Legislature may tax inhabitants of, and person resident in, the State; to be proportional and reasonable. Citation.-Massachusetts article XXVIII, section 14. Payment and collection.-Poll taxes shall be due and payable at the expiration of 30 days from the date upon which the notice is issued by the collector. MISSISSIPPI Authority.-Amount, $2, but county supervisors may raise to $3. Age, 21 to 60. Exemption.-Deaf and dumb and those maimed by loss of hand or foot. Payment and collection.-Tax to be lien only upon taxable property and no criminal proceedings to be allowed to enforce collection. Limitation on voters.-No person shall be permitted to vote in any primary election unless they have paid their poll tax annually on or before the 1st day of February of the year. Such poll tax is due for the 2 years prior to the time such person offers to vote. Every voter must have in his possession vote poll receipts for the 2 preceding years. NEVADA Authority.-Amount, $3; age, 21 to 60; each male resident. Purposes. For maintenance and betterment of public roads. Exemption.-Uncivilized American Indians. Any person who has paid poll tax in any other State. Residence requirements.-Must be in the State for a period exceeding 10 days. NEW HAMPSHIRE Authority.-Amount, $2. Age, 21 to 70. Exemption.-Paupers, insane persons. The widow of any veteran who served in any war. Payment and collection.—Payable to the collection on demand without previous notice. NORTH CAROLINA Authority.-Amount, $2. Age, 21 to 50; male persons. Citation.-North Carolina article V, section I. Purposes. To be applied to education and support of poor but not more than 25 percent in any one year for support of poor. Exemption.-World War veterans, indigent persons. Payment and collection.-Payable first Monday of October. 23160 Mississippi Code, 1942. NORTH DAKOTA Authority.-Not more than $1. Males, age 21 to 50. Citation.-North Dakota article XI, section 180. Purposes. Per capita school tax. Exemption.-Paupers, idiots, insane persons, and Indians. National Guard, volunteer and firemen. Residence requirements.—90 days within the State. OKLAHOMA Authority. Amount not to exceed $1. Age, 21 to 60, male. Legislature may provide penalty for nonpayment. Citation.-Oklahoma article X, section 18. SOUTH CAROLINA Authority.-Amount, $1. Age, 21 to 60 years. Purposes. To be applied to school purposes in district where collected. Exemption. Those incapable of earning a support from being maimed or from any other cause. Penalty.-Nonpayment of poll tax is a misdemeanor punished by a fine not to exceed $10 or not more than 20 days hard labor.3 TEXAS Authority. Age, 21 to 60; amount, $1. The legislature may impose per capita tax (Ida VII 2; Texas VIII). Citation.-Texas article VIII, section I; article VII, section 3. VIRGINIA Authority.-Amount, $1.50. Age, over 21 years. Citation.-Virginia article XIII, section 173. Purposes.-$1 to be applied exclusively to public free school; remaining 50 cents to be returned and paid by State to treasury of county or city in which collected for appropriation by local authorities to such county or city purposes as they shall determine. Payment and collection.-Treasurer of each county and city must file a list of persons who have paid poll tax. WEST VIRGINIA Authority.-Amount, $1. Age, 21; every male person. Citation.-West Virginia constitution, article X, section 2. Purpose. To be annually appropriated to support of free schools. WYOMING Authority.-Amount, $2. Age 21 to 50 years. Citation.-Wyoming constitution, article XV, section 5. Purpose.-County poll tax to be applied to county assessors any time during the year. Payment and collection.-Payable at the time of assessment, and collected by the county assessors any time during the year. 365-160, South Carolina Code. [S. Rept. 1662, 77th Cong., 2d sess.] AMENDING AN ACT TO PREVENT PERNICIOUS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OCTOBER 27, 1942.-Ordered to be printed Mr. NORRIS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H.R. 1024] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred H.R. 1024, an act to prevent pernicious political activities, begs leave to report thereon as follows: At the same time the committee had under consideration H.R. 1024, the committee also had under consideration S. 1280, a bill concerning the qualification of voters or electors within the meaning of section 2, article I, of the Constitution, making unlawful the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting in a primary or other election for national offices. These two bills have the same object in view, to wit: Making unlawful the requirement for the payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in a primary, or other, election, for national offices. Your committee recommends the passage of H.R. 1024 when amended as follows: First. Amend the title so it will read "An act making unlawful the requirement for the payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite to voting in a primary or other election for national offices." Second. The committee recommends that S. 1280 be amended as follows: 1. Strike out the preamble. 2. On page 2, after line 4, insert the word "other". 3. On the same page, line 9, after the word "or" insert "other". 4. In line 10, strike out the words "of section 2 of article 1". 5. On the same page, in line 12, after the word "and" where it first appears in said line inserting the word "other". 6. On the same page, in line 17 after the word "or" insert the word "other". 7. On page 3, in line 3, after the word "or" insert the word "other". 8. On the same page, line 6 after the word "or" and preceding the word "election" insert the word "other". 9. On the same page, line 9, after the word "or" insert the word "other". 10. On the same page, line 14, after the word "or" and preceding the word "election" insert the word "other". 11. On the same page, line 23, after the word "or" insert the word “other”. The committee recommends that H.R. 1024 be further amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting S. 1280 as thus amended. In this form your committee recommends the passage of H.R. 1024. Practically the only question involved in this legislation is the constitutionality of the proposed legislation. The committee has reached the conclusion that the proposed legislation is constitutional and should therefore be enacted into law. Those who believe the proposed law is unconstitutional rely upon section 2, article I, of the Constitution which reads as follows: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." The qualification of a voter is generally believed to have something to do with the capacity of a voter. We think it will be admitted by all that no State, or State legislature, would have the constitutional authority to disqualify a voter otherwise qualified to vote, by setting up a pretended “qualification” that in fact has nothing whatever to do with the real qualification of the voter. No one can claim that the provision of the Federal Constitution above quoted would give a legislature the right to say that no one should be entitled to vote unless, for instance, he had red hair, or had attained the age of 100 years, or any other artificial pretended qualification which, in fact had nothing to do with the capacity or real qualification of the voter. The evil that the legislation seeks to correct is in effect that in taking advantage of the constitutional provision regarding qualifications, the States have no right to set up a perfectly arbitrary and meaningless pretended qualification which, in fact, is no qualification whatever and is only a pretended qualification by which large numbers of citizens are prohibited from voting simply because they are poor. Can it be said, in view of the civilization of the present day that a man's poverty has anything to do with his qualification to vote? Can it be claimed that a man is incapacitated from voting simply because he is not able to pay the fee which is required of him when he goes to vote? In other words, when States have prevented citizens from voting simply because they are not able to pay the amount of money which is stipulated shall be paid, can such a course be said to have anything to do with the real qualifications of the voter? Is it not a plain attempt to take advantage of this provision of the Constitution and prevent citizens from voting by setting up a pretended qualification which, in fact, is no qualification at all? We believe there is no doubt but that the prerequisite of the payment of a poll tax in order to entitle a citizen to vote has nothing whatever to do with the qualifications of the voter, and that this method of disfranchising citizens is merely an artificial attempt to use the language of the Constitution, giving the State power to set up qualifications, by using other artificial means and methods which in fact have no relation whatever to qualifications. However, the constitutionality in our opinion does not depend alone upon the language of the Constitution above quoted. There are other provisions in the Constitution and amendments to the Constitution to which we desire to call attention. Section 4 of article I of the original Constitution reads as follows: "The Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators." The subcommittee to which this proposed legislation was referred has held rather extended hearings and has listened to very able and competent constitutional lawyers in the discussion of the constitutionality of the proposed legislation. These two provisions of the Constitution above quoted have been discussed at great length and with great ability by some of the ablest constitutional lawyers in the country. The pretended poll-tax qualification for voting has no place in any modern system of government. We believe it is only a means, illegal and unconstitutional in its nature, that is set up for the purpose of depriving thousands of citizens of the privilege of participating in governmental affairs by denying them a fundamental right-the right to vote. The requiring of a citizen to pay a poll tax before he can vote is in effect the requiring of the payment of money to exercise the highest "qualification" of citizenship. It is in effect taxing a Federal function. The most sacred and highest of all Federal functions is the right to vote. It is not within the province of a State, or its legislature, to fix a fee or tax which a voter must pay in order to vote and try, in this way, to come within the Federal Constitution by calling this a qualification. In the Yarbrough case decided in 110 U.S. 651, the Supreme Court of the United States said: "The right to vote for Members of Congress is fundamentally based upon the Constitution of the United States, and was not intended to be left within the exclusive control of the State." Supreme Court Justice Miller in that case said: "But it is not correct to say that the right to vote for a Member of Congress does not depend upon the Constitution of the United States." In the Classic case, decided in 1941, Justice Stone of the Supreme Court said: "The right of the people to choose, whatever its appropriate constitutional limitations, where in other respects it is defined, and the mode of its exercise is prescribed by State action in conformity to the Constitution, is a right established and guaranteed by the Constitution." Justice Stone said further: "While in a loose sense, the right to vote for Representatives in Congress is sometimes spoken of as a right derived from the State *** this statement is true only in the sense that the States are authorized by the Constitution_to legislate on the subject as provided by section 2 of article I, to the extent that Congress has not restricted State action by the exercise of its powers to regulate elections under section 4 and its more general power under article I, section 8, clause 18, of the Constitution to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.'" |