Georgia Public Service Commission Term Extension Challenge

McCorkle v. Raffensperger

Filed: July 17, 2024

Lawsuit filed by the Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, Georgia WAND Education Fund and a voter against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) challenging a state law that extends the terms of commissioners on the state’s public service commission. The Georgia Public Service Commission is a five-member body responsible for regulating public utilities throughout the state. Commissioners are normally elected to six-year terms, but elections have been on hold for the last several years due to a different voting rights lawsuit, which challenged the commission’s at-large elections under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

In that case, a federal judge issued an order blocking the state from holding at-large elections. Raffensperger appealed that decision to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and canceled the 2022 commission elections. In November 2023, the 11th Circuit overturned the district court’s decision but did not immediately lift the order blocking future elections under the at-large system. The Section 2 plaintiffs appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and Raffensperger canceled the 2024 elections. In April 2024, the state legislature passed House Bill 1312 to extend every commissioner’s term by two years while the appeals process continued, pushing the next elections to 2026. Shortly after this, the 11th Circuit lifted the original trial court order, allowing the state to hold at-large elections for the first time in four years. On June 24, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Section 2 plaintiffs’ appeal.

The plaintiffs in this case now argue that H.B. 1312 is unconstitutional because the state constitution, not state law, determines the length of each commissioner’s term. The groups argue that the term extension denies voters the opportunity to elect commissioners in violation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The plaintiffs ask the court to strike down H.B. 1312 and hold elections as soon as possible in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Commission Districts, where the current commissioners original terms have already ended or will end this year.

The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit on July 17, 2024. Raffensperger responded on Aug. 12.

STATUS: Motions to grant a preliminary injunction or dismiss this case are pending before the court. The parties await a decision.