Early voting is underway for Georgia PSC races. Here’s what you need to know.

For the first time since Georgia voters have a chance to decide who will represent them on the Masses Function Commission This delayed balloting comes after a lawsuit challenged the statewide elections used to elect commissioners arguing it diluted the voting strength of Black voters Despite each commissioner hailing from a specific geographic district in Georgia voters across the state are eligible to vote for each member This year District and seats are on the ballot The poll comes as commissioners face criticism for signing off rising rates for Georgia Power customers After June s primary poll winners will advance to the general electoral contest in November that will coincide with municipal elections across the state With early voting already in full swing about people have cast a ballot as of Monday according to the Secretary of State s statistics hub When is the voting process The primary electoral process will take place on June Early voting began May and will end June If a candidate does not receive at least of the vote in the primary a runoff referendum will be held on July Voters can check their registration status polling information and sample ballots on the Georgia Secretary of State s My Voter Page What is the Georgia Constituents Arrangement Commission The PSC is a five-member commission that is tasked with regulating electric telecommunication and natural gas services Why is this an major voting for voters The commissioners decisions and outcomes directly affect how much people in Georgia pay for necessary utility services Their website points out that very scant governmental agencies have as much impact on peoples lives as the PSC Despite this impact PSC elections tend to have low visibility and voter turnout across Georgia University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock attributes that partly to limited campaign capability I ve often stated that greater part Georgians are supposedly not fully aware we have a citizens facility commission don t know that it has five members and couldn t name a single one of them Bullock mentioned With limited campaign finances and awareness it can be tough for candidates to reach voters As a political scientist Bullock commented he often uses the PSC as an example when trying to identify what partisan division exists in the state He says that when people vote for the PSC balloting with limited knowledge they tend to fall back on their preferred party Georgia is still more Republican than Democratic so I think ultimately apparently the incumbent Republicans are going to win Bullock announced It also helps that once we get to the general electoral process ballot it ll have the I beside their name indicating they are the incumbents What will my ballot look like In District incumbent Commissioner Tim Echols is running for re-election If elected this would mark the beginning of his third term as a commissioner Echols will face Lee Muns on the Republican ballot Alicia M Johnson is running uncontested on the Democratic ballot District goes as far north as Hart County and as far south as Savannah In District which includes Clayton DeKalb and Fulton counties incumbent Commissioner Fitz Johnson is the sole candidate on the Republican ballot this month Gov Brian Kemp appointed Johnson to the seat in All the action in this race is on the Democratic side right now with four candidates trying to clinch the nomination Daniel Blackman who served as the Environmental Protection Agency s Southeast regional administrator during the Biden administration is fighting to remain a candidate Blackman was disqualified after Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger agreed with an administrative court judge that he did not have the adequate residency qualifications to run A Fulton County Superior Court judge granted an injunction allowing Blackman to remain on the ballot for now A hearing on Blackman s appeal is set for June Other Democratic candidates include Peter Hubbard who is the founder of the clean nonprofit Center for Strength Solutions former utility executive Robert Jones and Keisha Sean Waites who is a former Atlanta City Council member and ex-state representative Why are there separate ballots for the PSC primary electoral contest The PSC primary is a partisan electoral contest and requires voters to choose a Democratic or Republican ballot The primary balloting will not occur at the same time as any municipal elections This will not be true for the general electoral process For cities with municipal general elections also occurring on Nov different ballots will be offered for each electoral contest The partisan nature of the primary poll often contributes to low voter turnout Several people do not turn out for primaries reported Travis Doss president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Poll Administrators and Richmond County s electoral process director They do not feel that they have an affiliation with a party so there s inevitably confusion when it comes to primaries People argue with us that they should be able to vote for both sets of candidates This was true for a Richmond County woman who in recent weeks came in ready to cast her vote but ended up telling Doss that she would not be picking a party Why is this an irregular referendum cycle A lawsuit brought forth by Black voters in Atlanta delayed years of PSC elections and challenged the electoral process that allows statewide voters to elect district-specific commissioners Plaintiffs argued that this is a violation of Section of the Voting Rights Act and dilutes the voting power of Black Georgians The U S Supreme Court ultimately decided not to hear the occurrence and the at-large method of electing commissioners remains in place What are a few issues surrounding the current PSC Critics and consumer watch groups have continued to express concerns over rate prices growing electricity demands and the spread of details centers According to previous Georgia Recorder reporting the average Georgia Power residential customer pays about more to cover base electric rate increases recover excess fuel expenses and cover the cost of completing two new nuclear power generators at Plant Vogtle PSC staff and Georgia Power reached a proposed agreement to freeze base electric rates from to Critics have pointed out that Georgia Power customers could still see an increase on their utility bill after the approval of funds for storm damage and fuel recovery expenses The post Early voting is underway for Georgia PSC races Here s what you need to know appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta