A system and method for series connecting electronic power devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a switching device system includes a first upper arm electrically coupled to a first lower arm and a second upper arm electrically coupled to a second lower arm. Each of the arms include a plurality of low voltage sub-modules connected in series and each plurality of low voltage sub-modules includes an auxiliary switching device, a series switching device, and a capacitor. Each plurality of low voltage sub-modules is configured to be sequentially switched using the auxiliary switching device and the series switching device separately in the upper arms and the respective lower arms to control change in voltage over time (dV/dt) while selectively blocking a desired high voltage. Further, a capacitor voltage balancing (sorting or rotating) algorithm may be used to actively balance voltage across each plurality of low voltage sub-modules.