Dunn v. Blumstein

Dunn v. Blumstein involved voting rights. Specifically, the case addressed the question of whether a state could impose a durational residency requirement before granting bona fide citizens the right to vote. The Supreme Court determined that such requirements denied some citizens the fundamental right to vote, and that in order to justify such a denial, the state must have a compelling interest that could only be achieved in that way. The state involved, Tennessee, failed to demonstrate a compelling interest that would justify its exclusions, and the Supreme Court joined a federal district court in declaring durational residency requirements unconstitutional.

The case was brought as a class action suit by James Blumstein, a newly appointed assistant professor of law at Vanderbilt University. Moving to Tennessee in June of 1970, Blumstein attempted to register to vote on 1 July 1970. The county registrar refused to register him because of the state's durational residency requirement: only bona fide citizens who had lived in the state for one year, and in their county of registration for three months, prior to the upcoming election were allowed to vote. Blumstein brought suit on the grounds that the durational requirement violated his rights under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. A three-judge federal district court concluded that he was right. The state of Tennessee appealed to the Supreme Court.