Kramer v. Union School District

Case Date: 07/22/1969

Kramer v. Union School District, 395 U.S. 621 (1969) was a United States Supreme Court decision in which a childless bachelor living with his parents in the Union School District challenged Section 2012 of the New York Education Law which stated that voters for school district elections must own or lease taxable realty property in the district or be parents or custodians of one or more children enrolled in a public school local to the district. New York's argument was to limit the franchise to those primarily affected by education. The other stipulations of Section 2012, which were not in dispute, were that to be a registered voter in a school district election, the person must be a U.S. citizen, be a resident of the school district, and be at least 21 years old. Lower courts had dismissed the claim but the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts on appeal finding the additional stipulations of realty property and parent or custodian of a child in a school in the district to be an unreasonable restriction on the right to vote.