Skip to content
August 6, 2025
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • tiktok
MILLENNIUM NEWS 24/7

MILLENNIUM NEWS 24/7

Bridging The Community’s World Wide

  • Home
  • IP TV LIVE
  • PODCAST
  • U.S.News
  • LOCAL ELECTION
  • State News
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Maine
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • West Virginia
    • U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Politics
  • World News
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Weather
  • Business
  • Health News
  • ADVERTISEMENT
  • About Us
  • Contact us
Live TV

Appeals court says Georgia may elect utility panel statewide, rejecting a ruling for district voting

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. It also could signal limits to a new wave of voting rights litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a key part of the law this year in an Alabama case.

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. But a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Grimberg went too far.

“Georgia chose this electoral format to protect critical policy interests and there is no evidence, or allegation, that race was a motivating factor in this decision,” Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote for the unanimous panel. “On the facts of this case, we conclude that plaintiffs’ novel remedial request fails because Georgia’s chosen form of government for the PSC is afforded protection by federalism and our precedents.”

Plaintiffs decried the ruling as sanctioning discrimination. Grimberg had found statewide elections illegally handicapped Black-favored candidates, and that such candidates would have a better chance if only voters in a district elected each candidate, making it possible to draw at least one Black-majority district.

“This ruling is another act of continuing discrimination against Black voters in Georgia,” Brionte McCorkle, the executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters and one of four plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Voters should have an opportunity to vote for a public service commissioner that is responsive to their needs and represents their community. Instead, millions of voters are disenfranchised to maintain outdated and unfair electoral practices.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if the plaintiffs would further appeal. Another plaintiff, minister and political activist James “Major” Woodall, pledged that “the fight is far from over and we will continue to use every tool in our disposal to gain the relief we seek.”

If the ruling stands, it could put three of the five Georgia commission seats on 2024 ballots. Commissioners typically serve staggered six-year terms, but elections for the places held by Commissioners Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols were delayed from 2022 by Grimberg’s ruling. Johnson and Echols had already each won the GOP nomination.

A third Republican, Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, was already scheduled for election in 2024. Commissioners are required to live in particular districts under state law, but run statewide.

Retaining statewide elections enhances the chance that all five seats will remain in Republican hands, as they have been for years. Some Democrats who want elections by district would likely be less favorable to utilities. The commission determines how much Georgia Power Co. and other regulated utilities are allowed to bill millions of ratepayers, and what power plants and other facilities the utilities can spend on.

It wasn’t immediately clear Friday if parties would nominate new candidates, or if the 2022 nominees would stand. It’s also unclear whether delayed elections would take place in November 2024 when voter turnout will be highest, or at some other time. No other statewide offices besides public service commission are scheduled for 2024 ballots.

The appeals court said the lawsuit must fail because the plaintiffs hadn’t proposed a plan to remedy discrimination while maintaining a statewide election system, saying courts can’t impose a new form of government as part of a Voting Rights Act remedy.

“Plaintiffs’ novel proposal is that we dismantle Georgia’s statewide PSC system and replace it with an entirely new districted system,” the court wrote. “But we have never gone this far.”

The panel also cited earlier cases that upheld at-large elections for judges, saying a district system could lead commissioners to favor their own districts over statewide concerns.

“If each commissioner represented only a district, then important questions of utility regulation — such as the location of energy and infrastructure — could turn into a zero-sum game between commissioners beholden to their districts instead of a collaborative effort to reach the best result for the entire state,” the court wrote.

Plaintiffs said the current commission is unresponsive to Black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills.

About Author

dreamboy

See author's posts

Continue Reading

Previous: Rep. Dean Phillips, a Democrat running for president, says he won’t run for re-election to Congress
Next: Colorado funeral home owners where decomposing bodies found returned to state to face charges

Related Stories

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate

Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation

Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation

Entertainment

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar 1

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate 2

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate

Flaco Jimenez, Texas accordionist who expanded popularity of conjunto and Tejano music, dies at 86 3

Flaco Jimenez, Texas accordionist who expanded popularity of conjunto and Tejano music, dies at 86

Jeannie Seely, soulful country singer behind hits like ‘Don’t Touch Me,’ dies at 85 4

Jeannie Seely, soulful country singer behind hits like ‘Don’t Touch Me,’ dies at 85

Justin Timberlake says he’s been diagnosed with Lyme disease 5

Justin Timberlake says he’s been diagnosed with Lyme disease

Martha’s Vineyard film fest returns with Black star power, bold storytelling and cultural legacy 6

Martha’s Vineyard film fest returns with Black star power, bold storytelling and cultural legacy

In ‘Sinners’ and his music, Buddy Guy is keeping the blues alive. It hasn’t been easy 7

In ‘Sinners’ and his music, Buddy Guy is keeping the blues alive. It hasn’t been easy

Top News

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar

Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack, report says, citing death certificate

Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation

Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot reallocate billions meant for disaster mitigation

RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development

RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • tiktok
Editor: Nur M Tofader, Home Office: 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10177 Tell: 718 893 0002 (Office), 7188441300, +1212 401 6266, e-mail: Info@millenniuamtv24.com, e-mail: Info@millenniuamnews24.com, Copyright © Millennium News 24/7 | DarkNews by AF themes.