Kwon v. Crittenden
During the November 6, 2018 general election, Advancing Justice-Atlanta recruited and trained volunteer interpreters to assist Limited English Proficient (LEP) voters at the polls.
Some of these LEP voters faced issues at the polls because of a Georgia state law that severely restricted who could be an interpreter in state and local elections. While this law should not have applied in the November general election, which included federal races, the law would have applied to the December runoff election, which included only state races. To protect LEP voters’ right to an interpreter in the state-only runoff election, Advancing Justice-Atlanta filed a lawsuit in late November to challenge the restrictive state law. The lawsuit alleged that the state law violated the federal Voting Rights Act.
Within a matter of days, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement that permanently enjoined enforcement of the restrictive state law, thus entitling LEP voters to an interpreter of their choice in the December runoff election. This broad access to an interpreter now applies to all elections in Georgia.
Filed
November 27, 2018
Status
Decided
Issues
Voting Rights, Language Access, Voting Rights Act
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