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 Residents Function Commission This delayed electoral process 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 polling comes as commissioners face criticism for signing off rising rates for Georgia Power customers After June s primary balloting winners will advance to the general voting 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 figures hub When is the voting The primary electoral contest 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 ballot 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 Populace Provision Commission The PSC is a five-member commission that is tasked with regulating electric telecommunication and natural gas services Why is this an pivotal balloting 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 limited 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 explained that bulk Georgians are supposedly not fully aware we have a population organization commission don t know that it has five members and couldn t name a single one of them Bullock announced 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 electoral process with limited knowledge they tend to fall back on their preferred party Georgia is still more Republican than Democratic so I think ultimately seemingly the incumbent Republicans are going to win Bullock reported It also helps that once we get to the general polling 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 vote The PSC primary is a partisan polling and requires voters to choose a Democratic or Republican ballot The primary electoral contest will not occur at the same time as any municipal elections This will not be true for the general voting For cities with municipal general elections also occurring on Nov different ballots will be offered for each voting process The partisan nature of the primary electoral contest often contributes to low voter turnout Multiple people do not turn out for primaries disclosed Travis Doss president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Polling Administrators and Richmond County s electoral contest director They do not feel that they have an affiliation with a party so there s constantly 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 times 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 electoral contest 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 event and the at-large method of electing commissioners remains in place What are certain 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 figures 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