In the case of Fortson, Secretary of State of Georgia v. Dorsey et al., 1964, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a state law allowing for gubernatorial appointment to fill vacancies in congressional seats violated the Constitution's requirement that members of Congress be elected by popular vote. The court ruled unanimously that such appointments were constitutional as long as they were temporary and did not extend beyond the next scheduled election. This decision upheld Georgia’s statute which allowed its governor to make interim appointments until a special election could be held. The ruling clarified that while states have broad powers in setting procedures for filling Congressional vacancies, these powers are limited by federal requirements for democratic representation.

In the dissenting opinion for Fortson v. Dorsey, Justice William O. Douglas argued that Georgia's county unit system was unconstitutional because it violated the principle of "one person, one vote." He believed that this system unfairly gave more weight to rural votes over urban ones and therefore did not provide equal representation for all citizens. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's view that this case should be remanded back to a lower court in order to allow Georgia an opportunity to justify its voting scheme. Instead, he felt that there could be no justification for such a clear violation of constitutional rights and principles. Thus, Justice Douglas would have preferred an immediate ruling declaring Georgia's county unit system unconstitutional rather than allowing further litigation on the matter.