Which case is associated with establishing redistricting principles to reflect equal populations and protect voting equality?

• A. Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
• B. Baker v. Carr (1962)
• C. Shaw v. Reno (1993)
• D. Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)

Answer: (B)

This item centers on how the Supreme Court established rules for redistricting to ensure equal representation. The pivotal case is Baker v. Carr, which held that questions about how state legislative districts are drawn are justiciable in federal courts and that districts must have roughly equal populations so that each vote carries comparable weight. This created the standard of equal-population districts and opened the door for challenges to malapportioned maps, laying the groundwork for voting equality in districting.

Reynolds v. Sims later extended the same equal-population principle to state legislative districts, reinforcing the requirement across both houses of state legislatures. Wesberry v. Sanders applied the principle to congressional districts, ensuring equal populations within states for the U.S. House. Shaw v. Reno, by contrast, focuses on racial considerations in redistricting and whether race-based drawing of districts violates equal protection, rather than establishing the core equal-population standard. So Baker v. Carr is the case that first established the redistricting principle of equal populations to protect voting equality.