Democratic Party of United States et al. v. Wisconsin Ex Rel. La Follette et al.

Decided February 25, 1981. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 79-1631 · 450 U.S. 107 (1981) · Cited 288 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Cousins v. Wigoda · 419 U.S. 477 (1975)
• Rosario v. Rockefeller · 410 U.S. 752 (1973)
• Kusper v. Pontikes · 414 U.S. 51 (1973)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Ray v. Blair · 343 U.S. 214 (1952)
• Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City · 383 U.S. 1 (1966)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• Sweezy v. New Hampshire Ex Rel. Wyman · 354 U.S. 234 (1957)
• Bates v. City of Little Rock · 361 U.S. 516 (1960)
• Moore v. Ogilvie · 394 U.S. 814 (1969)
• Terry v. Adams · 345 U.S. 461 (1953)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• McPherson v. Blacker · 146 U.S. 1 (1892)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• California Democratic Party v. Jones · 530 U.S. 567 (2000)
• Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut · 479 U.S. 208 (1986)
• Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party · 552 U.S. 442 (2008)
• Clingman v. Beaver · 544 U.S. 581 (2005)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• New York State Bd. of Elections v. López Torres · 552 U.S. 196 (2008)
• Roberts v. United States Jaycees · 468 U.S. 609 (1984)
• Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee · 489 U.S. 214 (1989)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• Anderson v. Celebrezze · 460 U.S. 780 (1983)
• Riley v. National Federation of Blind of North Carolina, Inc. · 487 U.S. 781 (1988)
• O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. v. City of Northlake · 518 U.S. 712 (1996)
• Rodriguez v. Popular Democratic Party · 457 U.S. 1 (1982)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).