Ga. PSC Statewide Elections Appeal Likely Could Go to Supreme Court

A group of Black voters plans to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision finding that elections must remain statewide for the Georgia Public Service Commission’s five members. The 11th Circuit last month reversed the Northern District of Georgia's decision blocking that method on grounds that the at-large elections constituted unlawful vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (see 2311270001). Four Black residents of Fulton County asked the 11th Circuit on Thursday to stay the appeals court’s mandate “to preserve the status quo while they ask the Supreme Court to clarify the important issues in this case.” The Supreme Court probably will grant cert because it previously granted the appellees’ application to vacate an earlier 11th Circuit stay, they said in docket 22-12593. “There is a fair prospect that a majority of the Supreme Court will reverse this Court’s judgment,” including because it contradicts the high court’s 2023 decision in Allen v. Milligan. “Appellees will suffer irreparable harm if the mandate issues while they seek certiorari,” they added. Current PSC members would remain in office in the meantime. “Waiting a few more months for certiorari proceedings to resolve is hardly unfair.”