The Reapportionment Act of 1929[147] omitted a requirement contained in
the 1911 law[148] that Congressional districts be "composed of a
contiguous and compact territory, * * * containing as nearly as
practicable an equal number of inhabitants." Since the earlier act was
not repealed it was argued that the mandate concerning compactness,
contiguity and equality of population of districts was still
controlling. The Supreme Court rejected this view.[149] In Colegrove
_v._ Green,[150] the Illinois Apportionment law, which created districts
now having glaringly unequal populations, was attacked as
unconstitutional on the ground that it denied to voters in the more
populous districts the full right to vote and to the equal protection of
the laws. The Court dismissed the complaint, three Justices asserting
that the issue was not justiciable, and a fourth that the case was one
in which the Court should decline to exercise jurisdiction.[151]
Justice Black, dissenting in an opinion in which Justices Douglas and
Murphy joined, argued: "While the Constitution contains no express
provision requiring that Congressional election districts established by
the States must contain approximately equal populations, the
constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and the right to have one's
vote counted clearly imply the policy that State election systems, no
matter what their form, should be designed to give approximately equal
weight of each vote case. * * * legislation which must inevitably bring
about glaringly unequal representation in the Congress in favor of
special classes and groups should be invalidated, 'whether accomplished
ingeniously or ingenuously'."[152]


CONGRESSIONAL PROTECTION OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS