In Burns et al. v. Fortson, Secretary of State of Georgia, et al., the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a challenge to Georgia's apportionment scheme for its state legislature. The plaintiffs argued that this scheme violated the Equal Protection Clause because it allowed for significant population variances among districts and thus diluted their voting power. However, the court ruled in favor of Fortson and upheld Georgia's apportionment plan on grounds that it was not inherently discriminatory or constitutionally infirm as long as there was no systematic dilution of minority voting strength or built-in bias tending to favor particular political interests or groups. The court emphasized that states have wide latitude in devising their legislative representation system and any deviations from strict population equality must be justified by legitimate considerations incident to effectuation of a rational state policy.

In the dissenting opinion for Burns et al. v. Fortson, Justice William O. Douglas argued that Georgia's multi-member district system violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by diluting minority voting power and preventing fair representation in state government bodies. He contended that this form of electoral system inherently favored majority groups and disadvantaged minorities, thereby undermining democratic principles of equal representation and political fairness. Furthermore, he expressed concern over potential racial discrimination effects within such a system due to historical patterns of racial segregation in Georgia's politics.