Background
Lonnie E. Smith, a black voter in Harris County, Texas, sued county election official S. S. Allwright for the right to vote in a primary election being conducted by the Democratic Party. The law he challenged allowed the party to enforce a rule requiring all voters in its primary to be white. Because the Democratic Party had controlled politics in the South since the late 19th century (see Solid South), most Southern elections were decided by the outcome of the Democratic Party primary. Representing the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall argued this case in favor of Lonnie E. Smith.
Read more about this topic: Smith V. Allwright
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