<P> The British trade unionist George Howell used the phrase "one man, one vote" in political pamphlets in 1880 . During the 20th - century period of decolonisation and the struggles for national sovereignty, from the late 1940s onwards this phrase became widely used in developing countries where majority populations sought to gain political power in proportion to their numbers . </P> <P> In the United States, the "one person, one vote" principle was invoked in a series of cases in the 1960s . Applying the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, the Supreme Court majority opinion in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) ruled that state legislatures needed to redistrict in order to have congressional districts with roughly equal represented populations . In addition, the court ruled that, unlike the United States Congress, both houses of state legislatures needed to have representation based on districts containing roughly equal populations, with redistricting as needed after censuses . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr>

Where did one person one vote come from