 Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon, a black physician in El Paso, Texas and member of the Democratic Party, sought to vote in the Democratic Party primary of 1924 in El Paso.The defendants were magistrates in charge of elections who prevented him from doing so on the basis of the 1923 Statute of Texas which provided that "in no event shall a negro be eligible to participate in a Democratic party primary election held in the State of Texas".Nixon sought an injunction against the statute in the federal district court.