Afroyim (P) was born in Poland in 1893 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1912. P became a nationalized citizen in 1926. In 1950 he went to Israel and voluntarily voted in an election there for the Israeli Knesset. In 1960 when he reapplied for a U.S. Passport the Department of State refused to grant him one on the sole ground that he had lost his American Citizenship by voting in the election of a foreign state (Section 401(e) of the Nationality Act of 1940). P sued in a declaratory action for violation of Due Process under the Fifth Amendment and under the Fourteenth Amendment; the only way to lose citizenship is by voluntary renunciation. The District Court and the Court of Appeals rejected these claims.

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