Current:Home > StocksLawsuit claims that delayed elections for Georgia utility regulator are unconstitutional -SecureWealth Bridge
Lawsuit claims that delayed elections for Georgia utility regulator are unconstitutional
View
Date:2025-04-13 05:03:36
ATLANTA (AP) — Two groups on Wednesday sued to overturn a law extending the elected terms of Georgia’s public service commissioners, saying it violates the state constitution for the five Republicans to be allowed to serve terms longer than six years.
Georgia WAND Education Fund, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund and Brionte McCorkle, the executive director of the conservation group, filed the suit in federal court in Atlanta. They allege that the law passed this year also violates their due-process rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is the defendant because he oversees elections.
The Public Service Commission regulates what Georgia Power Co. and some natural gas companies can charge. In recent years, it has allowed Georgia Power, a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., to raise its rates. Kim Scott, Georgia WAND’s executive director, said voters should get a say on those rising rates.
“We have been stripped of our right to be able to vote for people, commissioners, that will live up and adhere to their mission, which is providing safe, reliable and equitable power, gas and telecom for Georgians,” Scott said.
Commission elections were frozen after a different lawsuit, in which McCorkle was one of four plaintiffs, claimed that the power of Black voters was illegally diluted because the five commissioners are elected statewide. A federal district court said such statewide votes were discriminatory, which could have been a groundbreaking ruling if it stood. It would have mandated elections by district, potentially sparking challenges to statewide elected bodies in other states with large numbers of Black voters. But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the case.
Anticipating that a court would order elections to resume after the 11th Circuit ruling, Georgia lawmakers this year added an extra two years to the current terms of commissioners on the all-Republican body. Each will eventually revert to six-year terms.
Plaintiffs have said it’s bitterly ironic that a lawsuit intended to force more representation on the body has resulted in commissioners getting more years on the board with no elections at all.
The extra years could prevent a majority of the commission seats from being elected at the same time when elections resume, meaning Democrats couldn’t take control in one election.
Commissioners Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson were supposed to run in 2022 but remain on the commission today. The 11th Circuit ruled in April that the state could resume elections. But Raffensperger had already said it was too late to schedule an election for them and for Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, whose term expires this year.
Under the new law, Echols and Johnson would stand for election in 2025. Johnson was appointed to the commission in 2021 and was supposed to run for the last two years of his predecessor’s term in 2022, before running again in 2024. Instead, he would run again for a six-year term in 2026. Echols would serve for five years, until 2030, facing voters only twice in 14 years, before resuming regular six-year terms.
Pridemore would see her term extended until 2026, serving for eight years. Commissioners Jason Shaw and Bubba McDonald, scheduled for reelection in 2026, would instead serve until 2028. Their positions would then revert to six-year terms.
Bryan Sells, the attorney handling the lawsuit, said it’s common sense that a simple law can’t override the Georgia Constitution. He said at least two previous federal court cases have also found that terms set out in the constitution can’t be extended or shortened.
“When the state violates the right to vote under state law, it also violates federal law, and violates the federal right to due process,” Sells said.
Sells said Echols, Johnson and Pridemore should each face election as soon as possible. He said the secretary of state should set a schedule including special party primaries and a special general election, with runoffs after each as needed. Sells said the primaries might be able to take place as early as November.
“The general point is that the elections should happen quickly,” Sells said.
veryGood! (78639)
Related
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Fewer than 400 households reject $600 million Ohio train derailment settlement
- Tyrese Gibson Arrested for Failure to Pay Child Support
- Dolphins' Tyreek Hill being detained serves as painful reminder it could have been worse
- Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
- Aaron Rodgers documentary set to stream on Netflix in December
- Why Selena Gomez Didn’t Want to Be Treated Like Herself on Emilia Perez Movie Set
- Books like ACOTAR: Spicy fantasy books to read after ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Head of state children’s cabinet named New Mexico’s new public education secretary
Ranking
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Will Travis Kelce attend the VMAs to support Taylor Swift? Here's what to know
- 'Scared everywhere': Apalachee survivors grapple with school shooting's toll
- A timeline of events on day of Georgia school shooting
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' has a refreshingly healthy take on grief and death
- Barrel Jeans Are the New Denim Trend -- Shop the Best Deals from Madewell, Target & More, Starting at $8
- Illinois man wrongly imprisoned for murder wins $50 million jury award
Recommendation
Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
White Stripes sue Donald Trump over the use of ‘Seven Nation Army’ riff in social media post
Labor costs remain high for small businesses, but a report shows wage growth is slowing for some
Field of (wildest) dreams: Ohio corn maze reveals Taylor Swift design
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
Prince William Addresses Kate Middleton's Health After She Completes Chemotherapy
The reviews are in: Ryan Seacrest hosts first 'Wheel of Fortune' and fans share opinions
Georgia police clerk charged with stealing from her own department after money goes missing