Which Supreme Court decision established the one-man, one-vote principle and contributed to increased Black voter registration after 1965?

• A. Roe v. Wade
• B. Plessy v. Ferguson
• C. Wesberry v. Sanders
• D. Brown v. Board of Education

Answer: (C)

The concept being tested is that each vote should have roughly equal weight, which means drawing congressional districts so they contain about the same number of people. When district populations are equal, one person’s vote isn’t diluted by living in a more crowded or sparsely populated district, upholding equal protection under the law.

This idea was applied to the U.S. House through a landmark ruling that required states to redraw congressional districts to reflect population shifts, ensuring that each district’s population is nearly the same. By enforcing equal district populations, the decision helped prevent vote dilution and made representation more responsive to changes in where people lived. In the broader civil rights era, these adjustments to districting complemented efforts to expand Black voting rights, and the environment after 1965’s Voting Rights Act further boosted Black voter registration and political participation.

Other choices address different issues: one focuses on abortion rights, another on segregation as it relates to schooling, and another on segregation itself. They do not establish the principle of equal vote weight in congressional districts.