In the case of Hadley et al. v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City et al., 1969, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute regarding electoral representation in junior college districts. The plaintiffs argued that the method used to elect trustees for these districts was unconstitutional as it violated their right to equal protection under law, as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This was because some voters had more influence over trustee elections than others due to population disparities among voting subdistricts within each district. The court agreed with this argument and held that such an election system did indeed violate "one person, one vote" principle established in previous cases like Reynolds v Sims (1964). Therefore, they concluded that all citizens should have equally effective votes in public elections regardless of where they live within a particular jurisdiction or district.

In the dissenting opinion for Hadley et al. v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City et al., Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to apply strict scrutiny to local school board elections was a significant and unwarranted expansion of judicial power into areas traditionally left to state and local control. He contended that there was no constitutional requirement for perfect mathematical equality in representation, particularly at the local level where other factors such as geography, community interests, and administrative efficiency might be relevant considerations in designing electoral systems. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential implications on other forms of government like bicameral legislatures or appointed bodies which do not adhere strictly to population-based representation principles either.