What is Smith v. Allwright?
{{italic title}} {{SCOTUSCase |Litigants=Smith v. Allwright |ReargueDate=January 12 |ReargueYear=1944 |DecideDate=April 3 |DecideYear=1944 |FullName=Smith v. Allwright, Election Judge, et al. |USVol=321 |USPage=649 |Citation= |Prior= |Subsequent= |Holding=Primary elections must be open to voters of all races. |SCOTUS=1943-1945 |Majority=Reed |JoinMajority=Stone, Black, Douglas, Murphy, Jackson, Rutledge |Concurrence=Frankfurter (in the judgment of the court only) |Dissent=Roberts |LawsApplied= }} '''''Smith v. Allwright ''''' (1944), was a [[landmark decision]] by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naacpldf.org/case/smith-v-allwright |title=Landmark: Smith v. Allwright |author= |date= |website= |publisher= NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. |accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref> The decision made it un[[constitutional]] to keep [[African American]]s from [[vote|voting]] in a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] [[Primary election|primary]] in [[Texas]].<ref name=TPP>{{cite web |url=http://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/vce/features/0503_01/smith.html |title=Smith vs. Allwright: white primaries |author= |date= |website= |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin |accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref> By extension it covered [[Caucasian|white]] primaries in all [[States of the United States|states]]. It overturned ''[[Grovey v. Townsend]]'' (1935) which had allowed the Democratic party to hold all-white primaries that [[wikt:exclude|exclude]]d [[Black people|black]] voters. == The all-white primary == The [[Reconstruction Amendments]] to the [[United States Constitution]] gave African Americans freedom from slavery, citizenship and the right to vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilWarAmendments.htm |title=Landmark Legislation: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, & Fifteenth Amendments |author= |date= |website= |publisher=The United States Senat