Reynolds v. Sims is a 1964 Supreme Court case holding that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires seats in a state legislature to be apportioned so that one vote equals one person residing in each state legislative district.
The case was brought by voters in Alabama who challenged the apportionment of the state legislature. Plaintiffs in Jefferson County, Alabama, sued the state in 1961, alleging that Alabama’s continued use of the 1900 federal census denied them equal protection of the laws, as required by the Fourteenth Amendment. They argued that population growth in the state had been uneven between 1900 and 1960, so the apportionment based on the 1900 census skewed the distribution of representation in the state legislature.
The Court, recognizing the fundamental nature of the right to vote, applied a strict scrutiny review to any restrictions on an individual’s right to vote, such as the one in this case. The Court found Alabama’s legislative districting scheme unconstitutional because it infringed on that right by apportioning the same number of representatives to districts with unequal populations. The effect of this, the Court recognized, was the overvaluing of votes of citizens in one district, and the undervaluing of citizens in another district. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the Court, stating that “legislators represent people, not trees or acres,” emphasizing the principle of “one person, one vote.” This decision reinforced the democratic principle that each person’s vote should have equal weight in electing representatives, leading to widespread redistricting across the country.
[Last updated in June of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]