The Hall County Board of Elections and Voter Registration is moving forward with the voluntary offering of voting materials in both English and Spanish, something Hispanic activist groups are applauding.
In a 2-1 vote, the board approved the motion Tuesday afternoon. Democrats Gala Sheats and Kim Copeland voted in favor of the measure, while Republican Ken Cochran cast the only dissenting vote.
Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), said in a statement that it is an "important step forward to ensure all voters in Hall County would be able to exercise their right to vote, regardless of language barriers that existed before."
GALEO began pushing for the bilingual materials in Hall and Gwinnett counties in 2015, hoping to have the Spanish language materials in place for the presidential election.
Hall County Elections officials at the time indicated that Spanish speaking voters already had avenues to get assistance with voting materials.
Gwinnett County officials declined to comment at the time, and later was required to offer the materials in Spanish due to a rule in the Voting Rights Act.
Hall County is looking to offer the materials voluntarily.
