Ga. PSC Election Process Challengers Denied Rehearing En Banc

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied rehearing en banc a Voting Rights Act case involving the Georgia Public Service Commission. The denial by a majority of 11th Circuit judges follows the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting a petition for certiorari from a group of Black voters challenging Georgia's election methods (see 2406240041). An 11th Circuit panel said earlier this year that elections must remain statewide for the Georgia PSC’s five members, who represent five separate districts. Three 11th Circuit judges dissented from the en banc rehearing decision: Charles Wilson, Robin Rosenbaum and Jill Pryor. Judge Nancy Abudu recused herself. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act "provides a necessary mechanism for challenging state and local electoral schemes that deny voters equal participation in the political process to elect representatives of their choice,” Wilson wrote in his dissent. “In its reversal of the district court's well-reasoned opinion, the panel improperly narrows [section] 2, eroding the guarantees of the Voting Rights Act." Rosenbaum noted that the 11th Circuit panel didn't disagree that "the existing PSC elections result in racial bloc voting that prevents Black voters in Georgia from electing their preferred candidates to the PSC"; however, it ruled against the petitioners because their proposed remedy isn't the same as the state's electoral system. But given that the state's existing system isn't equally open "to Black voters, that's the point,” Rosenbaum said: The panel opinion "ignores binding and long-standing law governing Section 2 cases," inappropriately extends court precedent and "replaces the appropriate framework for Section 2 challenges with its own single-minded test." Petitioners’ attorney, Brian Sells, emailed, “We're still reviewing today's opinions and haven't made any decisions about next steps yet.” Georgia didn’t comment.