ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Monday that sought to require Georgia officials to send absentee ballot applications in Spanish to residents of one county.
The lawsuit brought by several civil rights groups in April stems from a decision by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to send absentee ballot applications printed in English to all Georgia voters in March due to the coronavirus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and other groups then filed their lawsuit, saying Spanish voting materials should also be sent to Gwinnett County residents. The county is the only one in Georgia required to print election materials in both English and Spanish under federal law because of its large Spanish-speaking population.
Judge William M. Ray II wrote in his order Monday that the Georgia secretary of state’s office and the Gwinnett County elections board did not violate the federal Voting Rights Act, as the groups claimed, since people who did not receive the Spanish ballot applications still were able to get them from the county.
Ray also said the civil rights groups lacked standing to bring the case.
Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, told the newspaper that his group is considering an appeal.
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