Georgia Officials Accused of Voting Rights Act Violations During COVID-19 Pandemic

ATLANTA — A Georgia civil rights group has sued state and Gwinnett County officials in federal court, accusing them of mailing English-only mail-in ballot applications to county residents — many of whom are Latino — during the COVID-19 crisis.

The April 14 complaint filed by the Georgia Association of Elected Officials Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia says the county failed to take steps to ensure that its Spanish speaking voters receive bilingual absentee ballot applications, as required by the Voting Rights Act.

According to the complaint, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger used funds …