Voting group has alleged discrimination.
On Friday, the Supreme Court blocked Georgia from using an election method that a judge found to be racially discriminatory, but the justices left open the possibility that a lower court could reinstate the case ahead of the November election.
The unsigned order from the high court was in response to an emergency request filed earlier this week by a group of Black voters in Georgia. The request came as part of a challenge to the state’s “at-large” method for selecting members to Georgia’s Public Service Commission, which oversees the price of electricity and other utilities.
Earlier this month, a U.S. district judge in Georgia ruled that the state’s failure to use districts for electing commissioners illegally dilutes the vote of Black citizens in violation of the Voting Rights Act. However, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals voted to halt the judge’s ruling, deeming the ruling too close to the November election when two of the commission’s five seats are up for a vote.
That action prompted a Georgia voting group to make an emergency request to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court, leaving the door open for the Eleventh Circuit to apply a more rigorous legal analysis of the Georgia group’s request.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the Supreme Court justices to be discerning as cases regarding election processes come before them.
- For wisdom for U.S. circuit and district court judges as they hear and rule on state election laws.
- For voting rights groups to be altruistic in their litigation, seeking the good of the electorate in a nonpartisan manner.
Sources: The Hill, SCOTUSblog
