The last census showed us to be at 19.5% Latino but local concensus is that it is closer to 50% since so many were not counted.
4-7-2004 Hall County voters will be able to cast their ballots in English or Spanish in the November general election
The Secretary of State's Office picked Hall for a test run of bilingual ballots because of the county's large Latino population and its success as a guinea pig in electronic voting, said Cara Hodgson, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox.
But federal law is prodding the state's venture into ballots in a second language.
According to the Voting Rights Act, the change is required in political "subdivisions" such as counties or cities where more than 10,000 people or 5 percent of the voting age population comprise a single-minority language group, have depressed literacy rates and don't speak English very well.
Hall's Latino population reached 27,242, a count widely viewed as conservative but still making up 19.5 percent of the county population.
4-7-2004 Hall County voters will be able to cast their ballots in English or Spanish in the November general election
The Secretary of State's Office picked Hall for a test run of bilingual ballots because of the county's large Latino population and its success as a guinea pig in electronic voting, said Cara Hodgson, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox.
But federal law is prodding the state's venture into ballots in a second language.
According to the Voting Rights Act, the change is required in political "subdivisions" such as counties or cities where more than 10,000 people or 5 percent of the voting age population comprise a single-minority language group, have depressed literacy rates and don't speak English very well.
Hall's Latino population reached 27,242, a count widely viewed as conservative but still making up 19.5 percent of the county population.
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