 They passed laws to make voter registration more complicated, reducing black voters on the rolls.In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from 1890 to 1908, ten of eleven Southern legislatures ratified new constitutions and amendments to effectively disenfranchise most African Americans and many poor whites through devices such as poll taxes, property and residency requirements, and literacy tests.Although required of all voters, some provisions were selectively applied against African Americans.