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Hall may not have choice on bilingual ballots
Gwinnett was forced in 2016 to adopt Spanish-language ballots
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Gala Sheats and Craig Lutz, both members of the Hall County Elections Board, speak to each other Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, during an Elections Board meeting discussing rescinding a 2017 vote to adopt bilingual ballots for county and state election. The decision to provide ballots in Spanish was rescinded by a 3-2 vote. - photo by David Barnes
If Gwinnett County is any example, Hall County could soon be forced to adopt Spanish-language ballots regardless of whether administrators and elected officials support the move. In 2016, Gwinnett County was deep in a federal lawsuit filed by voting rights organizations aiming to push the county into offering Spanish language ballots. By that time, the metro Atlanta county was pushing past 900,000 residents. More than a fifth — or about 180,000 people — were Latino, and groups like the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials were suing in federal court to force the county to adopt Spanish-language ballots.