Gwinnett County Hosting Dual Language Primary Elections
A mandate from the U.S. Census Bureau requires Gwinnett County to hold elections in English and Spanish.
Monday is the first day of early voting across Georgia for the May primary elections, including in Gwinnett County.
However, their polling places will look much different than anywhere else in the state.
A mandate from the U.S. Census Bureau requires Gwinnett County to hold elections in English and Spanish. The requirement, which went into effect in 2016, came because more than 5 percent of Gwinnett’s voting-age population speak Spanish as a first language or are limited to their proficiency in English.
It’s the only county in Georgia with this designation.
Gwinnett County Elections Director Lynn Ledford said voters can expect to see the changes as soon as they get to the polls.
“All of the signage will be both in English and Spanish,” Ledford said. “The election materials themselves will be in both languages and then when they actually get to the voting booth, they will have the option of choosing either an English or a Spanish ballot.”
She said the changes should also reduce the amount of time all voters are spending at the polls in Gwinnett.
“You don’t have someone who is having to translate through a third person, they can actually speak with a poll official,” she said.
Ledford estimates the county has spent about $1 million so far translating documents and hiring bilingual poll workers.
She said they have also hired 100 workers though the goal was to hire 300.
Signs and election materials aren’t the only things that were translated. The Georgia peach “I Voted” stickers will also be available in Spanish.
Related
Top Stories
