A poll tax enacted in 1902 effectively disenfranchised blacks and poor whites , and the courthouse cliques fell all over themselves to ensure that reliable voters ' taxes were paid on time ( often as early as three years before an election ) .
A poll tax enacted in 1902 effectively disenfranchised blacks and poor whites . 
 The courthouse cliques of the Byrd machine fell all over themselves to ensure that '' reliable '' voters ' poll taxes were paid on time ( often as early as three years before an election ) .