Final answer:
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not outlaw poll taxes. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, ended poll taxes in federal elections, and the Supreme Court ruled against state poll taxes in 1966. Option b) false is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed poll taxes in America is false. While the Voting Rights Act was indeed a crucial piece of legislation that removed many barriers to voting for African Americans, including literacy tests and providing federal oversight in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination, it did not specifically outlaw poll taxes.
That was accomplished by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, which was ratified in 1964 and prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. However, many southern states continued to require poll taxes for state elections until 1966, when in the case of Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, the Supreme Court ruled that state poll taxes were also unconstitutional.