FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2023
Contact: Alexis Greenblatt, Georgia Conservation Voters, alexis@gcvoters.org, 678-242-9644; Brionté McCorkle can be reached at brionte@gcvoters.org or 478-919-5326.
Georgia Conservation Voters Celebrates the US Supreme Court’s Decision to Uphold the Voting Rights Act
Atlanta, Georgia — On Thursday, June 8th, the United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 in the landmark Alabama redistricting case, Allen v. Milligan. Their decision reaffirmed a lower court’s decision that deemed Alabama’s congressional map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The state must now redraw their map to add an additional majority-Black Congressional district.
As an organization that fiercely advocates for equal voting rights in the South, Georgia Conservation Voters celebrates this decision. This case will set a precedent and clear a path for us to continue to fight to hold the courts accountable and protect the Voting Rights Act in every capacity.
Executive Director of Georgia Conservation Voters, Brionté McCorkle, is currently a co-plaintiff in a similar voting rights lawsuit in Georgia; the case is still awaiting a final decision. The lawsuit alleges that the election process by which Georgians choose their Public Service Commissioners violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Black Georgians.
The case made its way up to the Supreme Court, where it was then sent back to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2022 with instructions to review their overruling of the original decision. The court has yet to issue a decision after arguments in December. We hope the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday will influence the 11th Circuit Court to uphold the original ruling that Georgia needs a new method of electing Public Service Commissioners to more fairly represent Black voters in the state.
“We are now eagerly awaiting the 11th Circuit Court’s ruling on the Public Service Commission election method in Georgia,” said McCorkle. “We’re six months past the appeal hearing, and the Public Service Commission is voting to approve every power bill increase they can. The longer we wait for a decision, the longer Georgians are being represented unfairly by a commission that is content to sell them out to utility companies.” Georgians deserve accurate representation on the Public Service Commission. Let this case set a precedent to recreate the election process for Georgia’s Public Service Commission.
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