Federal Appeals Court overturns GA voting rights ruling on PSC Race

A federal appeals court has overturned a voting rights ruling in Georgia, upholding statewide elections for the state’s utility regulators – the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) – that a lower court had found discriminated against Black voters.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision reverses a ruling last year by U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg, who was nominated by Republican President Donald Trump. Grimberg had ruled that Georgia must end statewide elections for the PSC because they diluted Black voting power. As the appeal moved through the courts, last year’s elections for the two open seats on the PSC were canceled. However, the court allowed Republicans Fritz Johnson and Tim Echols to remain in office while the case was pending and sidelined Democratic candidates Patty Durand and Shelia Edwards, who had won their statewide primary to become their party’s nominees for the PSC races.

This recent decision on the PSC races came from an appeals court of two Trump appointees, Elizabeth Branch and Britt Grant, along with an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, Harvey Schlesinger. The three Republican-appointed judges concluded that Georgia laws can allow at-large PSC districts, a system criticized for empowering the state’s white majority and resulting in only one Black commissioner ever winning election. The judges argued that a change from statewide to single-member district elections would significantly affect the inner workings of the PSC. 

The appeals court rejected the proposed remedy by the plaintiffs, which would have kept the state’s current Public Service Commission maps in place, with no districts having a Black majority. The decision has raised concerns about disenfranchising Black voters from having adequate representation in the state’s utility regulatory body. The plaintiffs are considering their next steps or appeals

An attorney for the plaintiffs, Bryan Sells, had argued that the 11th Circuit incorrectly disregarded the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination in elections. He stated that at-large elections unfairly allow voters outside of Atlanta to always choose the representative for voters inside of Atlanta, leaving Black voters with zero elected voting power on the PSC, which oversees electricity and natural gas rates for much of the state. The PSC members are all Republicans, four elected white members and one Black member, Fitz Johnson, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, but has never won an election.

The current PSC has come under attack from citizens and advocacy groups for several decisions that have allowed Georgia Power to place increased rates on the backs of Georgia ratepayers. Patty Durand, a Democratic candidate who ran against Tim Echols, said the appellate court’s decision disenfranchised Black voters from having a representative. “The recent spate of energy price increases, and more that are being requested, will continue to unjustly and unfairly burden a large portion of Georgians who have been denied representation due to partisan maneuvering,” Durand said.

Historically, Black candidates have faced steep challenges in winning statewide nonjudicial elections. Over the past 23 years, only four Black politicians from either party have achieved this feat. They include: 

• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock – A Democrat who successfully won a statewide election.
• Former Attorney General Thurbert Baker – A Democrat who achieved success in a statewide nonjudicial election.
• Former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond – A Democrat who secured victory in a statewide race.
• Former Public Service Commission (PSC) member David Burgess – A Democrat won in a statewide election.

The limited number of Black candidates winning such elections over a significant period underscores the existing barriers and disparities in electoral outcomes, which the appeals court did not address. 

Mike Hassinger, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the defendant in the lawsuit, said his office is reviewing the court’s decision and will then schedule elections for the Public Service Commission,