ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that Georgia can keep statewide elections for its five-member commission regulating utilities, overturning a lower court judge who found statewide elections illegally diluted Black votes. The ruling is important beyond Georgia’s Public Service Commission because it could help protect certain statewide elections in other states subject to scrutiny for racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act. In August 2022, U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg had ordered Georgia's commissioners elected by district, the first time a statewide voting scheme had been overturned by a federal judge. Retaining statewide elections enhances the chance that all five seats will remain in Republican hands, as they have been for years. Plaintiffs said the current commission is unresponsive to Black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills.

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Persons: Steven Grimberg, Grimberg, Georgia, Elizabeth Branch, Plaintiffs, ” Brionte McCorkle, James “ Major ” Woodall, Fitz Johnson, Tim Echols, Grimberg's, Johnson, Echols, Tricia Pridemore, It's, hadn't, beholden Organizations: ATLANTA, —, Public Service Commission, U.S, Supreme, Circuit, Appeals, ”, PSC, Black, Georgia Conservation Voters, GOP, Republican, Georgia Power Co Locations: Georgia, Alabama, U.S