ATLANTA (AP) — Two Georgia Public Utilities Commission elections will not take place this November, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday, overturning an earlier appeals court ruling that allowed them to proceed.
Instead, the high court returned to the original decision by a federal judge in Atlanta that postponed the election after discovering that electing all five statewide commissioners illegally diluted black votes.
District 2 Commissioner Tim Echols and District 3 Commissioner Fitz Johnson, both Republicans, are seeking re-election to six-year terms. Echols is being challenged by Democrat Patty Durand and Libertarian Colin McKinney, while Johnson is facing Democrat Shelia Edwards.
The Supreme Court’s decision came hours after a state court judge in a separate case overturned a residency challenge to Durand and allowed him to remain on the ballot, ruling that new districts drawn earlier this year violated Durand’s rights. Edwards also previously won a residency challenge.
The Supreme Court ruled that US District Judge Steven Grimberg’s decision was not too close to the election. The magistrates ruled that the The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was wrong to block Grimberg’s order citing an earlier Supreme Court decision that said justices should not order changes close to elections.
Grimberg broke new ground by finding state elections violate the Voting Rights Act, though his decision hinged on Georgia’s decision that candidates live in particular districts but run statewide. He found that candidates favored by illegally disabled blacks, and that such candidates would have a better chance of winning if only voters in one district voted for each candidate, making it possible to draw at least one majority-black district.
The justices, in an unsigned one-paragraph order, wrote that the 11th Circuit was wrong to rely on that decision because Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger earlier told Grimberg that officials would have ample time to modify ballots if Grimberg failed. before August 12. that because of that statement, Raffensperger had lost that argument.
The high court left open the possibility that the 11th Circuit could block Grimberg’s ruling and allow the election to proceed on other grounds. The 11th Circuit is also expected to consider a full appeal of the ruling later.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr argues that Grimberg fundamentally erred in his decision concluding that race and not Democratic partisanship drove the losses of candidates favored by black voters. He also says the judge went too far in concluding that only state law and not the state constitution requires statewide elections. Grimberg previously rejected both arguments.
The plaintiffs have said the district elections would highlight the concerns of black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills. The lawsuit was filed by leaders of the NAACP, Georgia Conservation Voters and Black Voters Matter.
The commission regulates Georgia Power Co. and other utilities, determining how much the companies are allowed to bill millions of taxpayers.
If Grimberg’s ruling stands, state lawmakers would have to draw single-member districts for the commission.
Another federal judge earlier this year a Allowed Georgia Congressional elections to take place even though it preliminarily found that redistricting was likely to have illegally harmed black voters. Defenders of the right to vote have denounced decisions that prioritize allowing elections to take place, saying they allow states to proceed with illegal elections. It also raises fears that the Supreme Court will destroy the section of the Voting Rights Act that allows people to sue over district boundaries and other electoral provisions.
Elections to the Georgia Public Utilities Commission have been hotly contested this year. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melynee Leftridge ruled Thursday that Durand should remain on the ballot despite Raffensperger trying to oust her for failing to meet her district’s one-year residency requirement.
Leftridge ruled that the requirement was unconstitutional in Durand’s case because she was excluded during redistricting based on her residence.
The judge cited text messages between Echols and Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who drew the districts lawmakers adopted in March. Leftridge said evidence shows Pridemore had drawn a map that left Gwinnett County, where Durand previously lived, in District 2. But after Echols texted Durand’s previous address to Pridemore, he drew a new map that excluded Gwinnett County from the district.
Durand moved to Conyers, part of the new District 2, but Raffensperger challenged his qualifications in April for failing to meet the one-year residency requirement.
Leftridge ruled that the residency law, as applied, violated Durand’s First Amendment right to free association and his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection.
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Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.
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