Rogers v. Lodge

Burke County, Georgia, used an at-large system to elect its five-seat Board of Commissioners, in which the county's Black majority made up only 38 percent of registered voters and had never elected a Black candidate to the Board. A group of Black citizens sued, and the district court found the system, though neutral when first adopted, was being maintained for the purpose of diluting Black voting strength, ordering the county divided into five single-member districts. The court of appeals affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.