Which amendment prohibited the poll tax in national elections?

• A. First
• B. Second
• C. Twenty-Fourth
• D. Fifteenth

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is how amendments remove barriers to voting. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment specifically bans requiring a poll tax to vote in federal elections. This stopped wealth-based obstacles from preventing people from participating in national elections, a change that aimed to expand access during the civil rights era. Poll taxes had been used to suppress turnout among Black citizens and the poor, so this amendment was a direct step toward equal voting rights in national elections. While the amendment targets federal elections, later Supreme Court decisions extended the principle to state elections as well, reinforcing that poll taxes are unconstitutional overall.

The other options don’t fit because they address different topics: the First Amendment protects freedoms like speech and religion, the Second covers the right to bear arms, and the Fifteenth prohibits denying the right to vote based on race.