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Judge Denies Request To Delay Gwinnett Primary Elections

March 16th, 2018

A judge denied the request of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and state NAACP to delay Gwinnett’s primary elections or speed up their case against the county.

David Goldman / Associated Press file

Primary elections in Gwinnett County this May will continue as scheduled.

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and state NAACP asked a judge earlier this week either to delay Gwinnett’s primary elections or to speed up their case against the county. Judge Amy Totenberg denied their request.

The two groups sued Gwinnett two years ago arguing the minority voters in the county were disenfranchised because of how district lines are drawn.

Jerry Gonzalez is with the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

“We would’ve liked to have a judgement by the judge in our favor today,” he said. “But unfortunately the judge wants to hear the evidence and make sure she does deliberate on this in a thoughtful and deliberate manner.”

Gonzalez said the current district lines have an effect on this year’s elections.

“We want to expedite this process to have this trial as quickly as possible,” he said. “There’s enough evidence that I think supports our claims that minority voters are being disenfrachised in Gwinnett County.”

County officials say they do not comment on pending litigation.

The primary elections are for two county commission seats. Later this year, residents will also get a chance to vote on two board of education seats.