ATLANTA — ATLANTA (AP) - Gwinnett County is holding elections in both English and Spanish as early voting for Georgia's May 22 primary elections begins across the state.
WABE Radio reports Gwinnett is Georgia's only county determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to meet the requirement under the Voting Rights Act to provide election materials in both languages. The requirement was triggered in 2016 because more than 5 percent of Gwinnett's voting population speaks Spanish as a first or only language.
Gwinnett County Elections Director Lynn Ledford says all signs, election materials and ballots will be available in both languages.
Ledford estimates the county spent about $1 million translating documents and hiring bilingual workers. She says all Gwinnett voters will save time since Spanish-speaking residents will be able to move through the polls faster.
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Information from: WABE-FM, http://www.wabe.org/
