Only 22 voters have cast ballots so far according to Pierce County Board of Elections
Early voting is now underway for a rare, off-year statewide primary for two public service commissioner (PSC) seats set for Tuesday, June 17, in what is likely to be a low interest, poor turnout election.
As of Friday, only 22 of Pierce County’s over 10,000 active registered voters had cast ballots in the election.
Early voting will be 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. through Friday, June 13. Saturday voting is set for 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. June 7. Election day itself for the primaries falls June 17, 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Early voting for the election will be conducted at the Pierce County Elections Office, 312 Nichols St. in Blackshear. Votes will be cast on election day June 7 at the county’s two precincts, the NFC Gym at 705 College Avenue, Blackshear or Eagle Station at 3507 Williams St. in Patterson. The deadline to request absentee ballots is June 6.
On the Republican ticket, incumbent Commissioner - District 2 Tim Echols is challenged in the primary by Lee Muns. Incumbent Commissioner District 3, Fitz Johnson, is unopposed in the primary.
On the Democratic ticket, Alicia M. Johnson is unopposed in the primary to be the candidate for Public Service Commissioner - District 2. She will face the winner of the Echols-Muns race in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 4.
There are three candidates vying to be the candidate for Public Service Commissioner - District 3: Peter Hubbard, Robert Jones and Keisha Sean Waites.
A fourth Democratic candidate, Daniel Blackman, will appear on the ballot, but his status is currently in limbo. Blackman was determined to be ineligible last week. for not meeting residency requirements as he lives outside the PSC district he was seeking to represent. However, a judge later blocked his disqualification pending further judicial review.
With three, possibly four Democratic candidates, there likely could be a runoff since the winner must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one. The runoff would be Tuesday, July 15 between the two candidates with the highest vote totals.
The Democratic nominee will face off against Johnson in the general election Nov. 4.
PSC members run at-large statewide. Seats 2 and 3 are up for election. District 2 covers a swath of 40 counties from Savannah up to Atlanta. District 3 covers the metro Atlanta region.
Pierce County’s representative on the PSC, District 4 member Jason Shaw (R, Lakeland), is not up for election this year.
The PSC regulates the rates on primarily electric, natural gas and telecommunications utilities. Utility providers must submit an application to the PSC to approve a rate hike before they can go into effect, several of which have been approved in recent years, especially for electricity.
Voting would normally have been held in an even numbered year like 2024, but a lawsuit moved that year’s cycle of districts back a year. The suit regarded the at-large nature of PSC elections.
The suit was dismissed in June 2024, which was too late to have the election at its regularly scheduled interval in November 2024.
The Pierce County Board of Elections has posted sample ballots for the primaries to their social media page. For more information, the Board of Elections can be reached at 912-449-2028.
