The U.S. Supreme Court case Salyer Land Co. et al v. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District in 1972 revolved around the issue of voting rights within special-purpose districts, specifically water storage districts in California. The plaintiffs, landowners within the district who did not reside there, argued that their inability to vote on matters related to the district violated their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under law as they were being taxed without representation. However, the court ruled against them with a 5-4 decision stating that these types of districts are primarily business-oriented and thus can limit voting rights based on property ownership rather than residency or population size without violating constitutional principles.

In the dissenting opinion for Salyer Land Co. et al. v. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established principles of equal protection under law as enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of United States. He contended that by allowing voting rights to be based on land ownership and acreage within water storage districts, rather than one person-one vote principle, it created an inherently unequal system where those with more property had greater political power than others who owned less or no property at all within these districts. This he believed undermined democratic principles and disproportionately favored wealthy landowners over other residents in determining policies related to critical resources like water distribution and usage.