Georgia elects Public Service Commissioners in statewide partisan elections, every two years. On July 14, 2020, a lawsuit was filed by African-American voters, alleging the statewide system violates the federal Voting Rights Act. No African-American has ever been elected to the Commission, although there is one appointed member who is African-American. The lawsuit argues that the elections should be converted into district elections.

On February 25, a hearing was held in this case to determine whether filing for this office should be delayed, until the lawsuit is settled. Rose v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:20cv-2921. See this story. The case is before U.S. District Court Judg Steven D. Grimberg, a Trump appointee.

Georgia does have five districts for Public Service Commissioner, even though the elections are statewide. The purpose of the districts is to establish residency requirements for Commissioners. There is one commissioner residing in each district.

On February 23, the New Hampshire Election Law Committee voted 10-10 on HB 1264, the bill to allow ranked choice voting in primaries and for local non-partisan office. In New Hampshire, committee votes don’t determine whether bills advance. They still get a vote on the floor. The fact that this bill got ten votes is a sign that it could pass the floor.

Arguments for the bill relate to the presidential primary, and also the fact that Maine has been able to use the system for several elections now. Arguments against are mostly the expense of buying new vote-counting machines. Thanks to Alvin See for this news.

On February 22, an Alabama voting rights group sued the Secretary of State over access to the list of registered voters. Greater Birmingham Ministries v Merrill, n.d., 2:22cv-228. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Abdul Kallon, an Obama appointee.

The group wants to see a list of all purged voters. The federal law on voting registration says records pertaining to efforts to purge the list shall be made available to the public at reasonable cost. Because the records are electronic, the group argues, it is not reasonable for the state to charge $1,331 for the list. The group first requested the list on May 17, 2021, and the Secretary of State has been refusing to release the records ever since, saying the group must first pay for the list.

Here is the Complaint.