Wesberry v. Sanders was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964. The case was brought by James P. Wesberry, Jr., against Georgia Governor Carl Sanders. Wesberry alleged that the population of the Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, his home district, was two to three times larger than that of other districts in the state, thereby diluting the impact of his vote relative to other Georgia residents in violation of the United States Constitution. another's."[1][2]
HIGHLIGHTS
The case: James P. Wesberry, Jr., the plaintiff, alleged that, because the population of his congressional district was two to three times larger than that of other congressional districts in Georgia, the impact of his vote had been diluted relative to other state residents, violating the United States Constitution.
The issue: "Did Georgia's congressional districts violate the Fourteenth Amendment or deprive citizens of the full benefit of their right to vote?""[1]
The outcome: The court ruled 6-3 in favor of Wesberry, finding that the population disparities between Georgia's congressional districts violated the U.S. Constitution. The court held that "as nearly as is practicable, one person's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's."
Background
See also: Redistricting in Georgia
Case history
According to the 1960 United States Census, the population of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, in which Wesberry resided, was 823,680. At that time, the average population of Georgia's 10 districts was 394,312. The population of the smallest, Georgia's Ninth Congressional District, was 272, 154