Harper et al. v. Virginia Board of Elections et al.

Decided March 24, 1966. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 48 · 383 U.S. 663 (1966) · Cited 1,402 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.

• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Carrington v. Rash · 380 U.S. 89 (1965)
• Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections · 360 U.S. 45 (1959)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Malloy v. Hogan · 378 U.S. 1 (1964)
• Louisiana v. United States · 380 U.S. 145 (1965)
• Palko v. Connecticut · 302 U.S. 319 (1937)
• Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. Williamson · 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
• Lochner v. New York · 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
• Adamson v. California · 332 U.S. 46 (1947)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Griffin v. Illinois · 351 U.S. 12 (1956)
• Douglas v. California · 372 U.S. 353 (1963)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Edwards v. California · 314 U.S. 160 (1941)
• Kotch v. Board of River Port Pilot Comm'rs for Port of New Orleans · 330 U.S. 552 (1947)
• Nixon v. Herndon · 273 U.S. 536 (1927)
• Griswold v. Connecticut · 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Ferguson v. Skrupa · 372 U.S. 726 (1963)
• West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish · 300 U.S. 379 (1937)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Gray v. Sanders · 372 U.S. 368 (1963)
• Allied Stores of Ohio, Inc. v. Bowers · 358 U.S. 522 (1959)
• Evans v. Newton · 382 U.S. 296 (1966)

Cited by

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

• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Crawford v. Marion County Election Board · 553 U.S. 181 (2008)
• Shapiro v. Thompson · 394 U.S. 618 (1969)
• Bullock v. Carter · 405 U.S. 134 (1972)
• City of Mobile v. Bolden · 446 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 · 395 U.S. 621 (1969)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Dunn v. Blumstein · 405 U.S. 330 (1972)
• Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
• Lubin v. Panish · 415 U.S. 709 (1974)
• Boddie v. Connecticut · 401 U.S. 371 (1971)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Lindsey v. Normet · 405 U.S. 56 (1972)
• McDonald v. Board of Election Comm'rs of Chicago · 394 U.S. 802 (1969)
• Burson v. Freeman · 504 U.S. 191 (1992)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Levy v. Louisiana Ex Rel. Charity Hospital · 391 U.S. 68 (1968)
• Hall v. Beals · 396 U.S. 45 (1969)
• Goosby v. Osser · 409 U.S. 512 (1973)
• Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools · 487 U.S. 450 (1988)
• Richardson v. Ramirez · 418 U.S. 24 (1974)
• Holt Civic Club v. City of Tuscaloosa · 439 U.S. 60 (1978)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Dandridge v. Williams · 397 U.S. 471 (1970)
• United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) · 412 U.S. 669 (1973)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)

Official text

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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).