Do campaign donations qualify as speech? In Buckley v. Valeo (1976) the United States Supreme Court held that several key provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act were unconstitutional. The decision became known for tying campaign donations and expenditures to Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966), the United States Supreme Court ruled that Congress had not exceeded its authority when crafting Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which extended voting rights to a group of voters who had been turned away at the polls because they could not pass literacy tests. The case hinged on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Video - Justices O'Connor and Breyer discuss the principle of one person, one vote. Specific focus on the Baker v. Carr case

Does Congress have the power to set a minimum voting age? Oregon v. Mitchell (1970) asked the Supreme Court to determine whether three amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1970 were constitutional. In a 5-4 decision with multiple opinions, justices found that the federal government could set a voting age for federal elections, ban literacy tests, and allow non-state residents to vote in federal elections.

In Reynolds v. Sims (1964) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must create legislative districts that each have a substantially equal number of voters to comply with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is known as the "one person, one vote" case. Justices struck down three apportionment plans for Alabama that would have given more weight to voters in rural areas than voters in cities.

Students will learn about the impacting 2013 Supreme Court case that fractured part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by dismantling provision that gave the federal Congress the p[owner to protect voting rights. Students examine the immediate effects of the case.

In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), a landmark case, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided the federal government with a formula to determine which voting jurisdictions should be subject to oversight when passing electoral laws.