In the case of White, Secretary of State of Texas v. Weiser et al., 1972, the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether a state's congressional districting plan that resulted in population variances among districts violated the Equal Protection Clause. The appellants argued that small deviations from absolute equality were justified by legitimate state interests such as maintaining political subdivisions and respecting natural geographic boundaries. However, the appellees contended that any deviation from perfect numerical equality was unconstitutional unless necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest. The Supreme Court held in favor of Weiser and others, ruling that even minor disparities in population among districts could not be justified without sufficient cause. The court emphasized its previous rulings which stated "as nearly as is practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another’s." Therefore, it concluded that there must be good reasons for any departures from this principle. This decision reaffirmed earlier precedents establishing strict scrutiny for apportionment schemes deviating from equal representation and underscored states' obligations under federal law to ensure fair representation when redistricting.

In the dissenting opinion for White, Secretary of State of Texas v. Weiser et al., Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision was a departure from previous rulings which required states to make good faith efforts to achieve population equality in congressional districts. He contended that even minor deviations from absolute numerical equality should be justified by compelling state interests, and he did not believe such justifications existed in this case. Furthermore, Douglas expressed concern about potential political manipulation resulting from allowing these deviations. He believed that permitting any deviation could lead to gerrymandering or other forms of political gamesmanship designed to favor one group over another.