Gray v. Sanders

E474596

Gray v. Sanders is a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down Georgia’s county unit voting system and introduced the “one person, one vote” principle in the context of statewide elections.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Gray v. Sanders canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
apportionment case ⓘ
voting rights case ⓘ
appliesTo statewide general elections ⓘ
statewide primary elections ⓘ
areaOfLaw civil rights ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ
election law ⓘ
challengedLawOrPractice Georgia county unit system ⓘ
citation 372 U.S. 368 ⓘ
83 S. Ct. 801 ⓘ
9 L. Ed. 2d 821 ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInvolved Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
courtTerm 1962 Term of the U.S. Supreme Court ⓘ
decidedBy Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate 1963-03-18 ⓘ
decisionType landmark decision ⓘ
defendant James H. Gray ⓘ
dissentBy Justice John Marshall Harlan II ⓘ
linked to: John M. Harlan II
effect invalidated Georgia’s county unit system ⓘ
required more equal weighting of votes in statewide elections ⓘ
geographicScope statewide elections in Georgia ⓘ
hasJurisdiction United States ⓘ
holding Georgia’s county unit system for statewide primary elections violated the Equal Protection Clause ⓘ
the weight of a citizen’s vote cannot be diluted by arbitrary geographic classifications in statewide elections ⓘ
keyPhrase The conception of political equality...can mean only one thing—one person, one vote. ⓘ
legalIssue constitutionality of Georgia’s county unit voting system ⓘ
equal protection in statewide elections ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Justice William O. Douglas ⓘ
linked to: William O. Douglas
originatedIn Georgia ⓘ
partyType voter challenging state election system ⓘ
plaintiff James O’Hear Sanders ⓘ
precedentFor Reynolds v. Sims ⓘ
Wesberry v. Sanders ⓘ
principleEstablished one person, one vote ⓘ
proceduralPosture appeal from a three-judge federal district court in Georgia ⓘ
relatedConcept electoral equality ⓘ
vote dilution ⓘ
relatedDoctrine malapportionment ⓘ
reapportionment ⓘ
remedyOrdered enjoining use of the county unit system in Georgia statewide primaries ⓘ
stateParty State of Georgia ⓘ
linked to: Georgia
subsequentImpact influenced later redistricting and apportionment cases ⓘ
voteSplit 8–1 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.