Ball v. James
United States Supreme Court
451 U.S. 355 (1981)
The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRD) delivered water to landowners across 236,000 Arizona acres and sold electricity to subsidize its water operations. State law let the SRD limit voting for its directors to landowners within the district and apportion votes by acreage owned. James (plaintiff), representing a class of district residents who owned little or no land, sued Ball (defendant), an SRD official, claiming the scheme violated the Equal Protection Clause's "one person, one vote" principle. The district court upheld the scheme, the court of appeals reversed, and Ball appealed to the Supreme Court.
Whether a state may permit a water-district voting scheme that limits voting to landowners and apportions voting power by acreage without violating the "one person, one vote" requirement of the Equal Protection Clause.