Betty Wells v. Edwin Edwards

Background

A Louisiana voter, Betty Wells, challenged the State’s method of electing its Supreme Court justices. The State’s constitution divides the State into six election districts — five electing one justice each and one electing two — without regard to population, producing large population differences among districts.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the one-person, one-vote principle applies to elections for judges. The District Court entered summary judgment against the challenger and declined to treat the population disparities as an equal-protection violation. The Supreme Court’s short disposition in this excerpt affirms that judgment; the majority’s full reasoning is not included here. The record shows district populations ranging from about 369,485 to 682,072 and a two-justice district totaling about 1,007,449.

Real world impact

By affirming the lower-court ruling in this appeal, the result leaves Louisiana’s district-based system in place and leaves voters in more populous districts with proportionally less influence in judicial elections. The decision preserves state authority to use such districting for selecting judges in this case, though the broader constitutional debate over equal voting weight in judicial elections continues in the opinions quoted.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice White, joined by Justices Douglas and Marshall, dissented and argued that judges are state officials who “perform governmental functions,” so voters should have equal voting power; he urged fuller review given the population disparities.