Canada
This article was added by the user . TheWorldNews is not responsible for the content of the platform.

The Georgia PSC election has been postponed again after the High Court's ruling.

Article Author:

The Associated Press

Associated Press

Jeff Amy

ATLANTA (AP) — Two Georgia Public Service Commission elections will not take place this November, the U.S. Supreme Court said Friday. ruling, overturning a previous Court of Appeal decision. It allowed them to move on.

Instead, the High Court ordered a former Atlanta federal judge to postpone the election after finding that the black vote had been illegally diluted by electing five commissioners statewide.

District 2 Commissioner Tim Echols and District 3 Commissioner Fitz Johnson, both Republicans, are seeking re-election to six-year terms. Echols is challenged by Democrat Patty Durand and libertarian Colin McKinney, while Johnson is up against Democrat Sheria Edwards.

A Supreme Court decision ruled that a state court judge overturned her residency challenge against Durand in a separate case, allowing her to remain on the ballot for several hours. later dropped. Violating Durand's rights to her. Edwards has also previously won a residency challenge.

The Supreme Court ruled that US District Court Judge Steven Grimberg's decision was not too close to the election. The judge said the 11th Circuit was erroneous in blocking Grimberg's order, citing an earlier Supreme Court ruling that judges should not order changes near an election. made a verdict.

Grimberg broke new ground by finding that statewide elections violated the Voting Rights Act, but his decision was based on the fact that candidates lived in certain districts. was carried out statewide. We have found that such a candidate is more likely to win if at least one of the majority constituencies can be drawn.

In his unsigned one-paragraph order, Judge wrote that it was wrong for the 11th Circuit to rely on its decision. If Grimberg makes his decision by August 12th, he will change his vote. The judge ruled that Ravensperger waived that claim because of his statement.

The High Court ruled that the 11th Circuit blocked his Grimberg ruling, leaving the possibility of proceeding with the election on other grounds. The 11th Circuit also plans to consider a full appeal of the judgment later.

With Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr concluding that it was the campaign, not Democratic partisanship, that caused the defeat of the black voter-preferred candidate, Grimberg argued against him. He also said that the judge's conclusion that it was only state law, not state constitution, that required statewide elections went too far. . Grimberg has previously denied both claims.

Plaintiffs said the local elections would shine a spotlight on concerns of black voters.The lawsuit was brought by leaders of the NAACP, Georgia Conservation Voters and Black Voters Matter. it was done.

This commission regulates the Georgia Power Company and other utilities and determines how much the company can charge millions of bill payers.

If Grimberg's decision were to take effect, state legislators would have to choose single-member districts for commission.

Earlier this year, another federal judge ruled that Georgia legislative elections should continue despite a preliminary finding that redistricting would likely unlawfully harm black voters. Voting rights advocates have denounced the decision to prioritize the conduct of elections, saying it allows states to proceed with illegal elections. It has also raised concerns that it could be voided, allowing people to sue over district boundaries and other voting provisions.

Georgia's Public Service Commission elections have been litigious this year. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Merinie Leftridge said Thursday that Durand should stay on the ballot even though Ravensperger tried to evict her for not meeting her district's one-year residency requirements.

Leftridge held that this requirement was unconstitutional in Durand's case because it was subject to exclusion when redistricting based on place of residence.

Judge quoted her message as a text between Echols and her public servant, Tricia Pridemore: Leftridge said that Pridemore would move Gwinnett County, where Durand had previously lived, into District 2. He said he had evidence to show he drew the map he left behind. But after Echols texted Pridemore her previous address in Durand, she created a new map that excluded Gwinnett County from the district.

Durand moved into her Conyers, part of the new Second District, but Raffensperger challenged her eligibility in April for failing to meet the one-year residency requirement. I chanted

Leftridge held that applicable residency laws violated Durand's First Amendment right to free association and her Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection.

——