Voting in local elections will be easier for the city of Morrow’s non-English-speaking residents. The U.S. Census states nearly 50% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home.
The city council voted during their last regular meeting on Aug. 22 to debut multilingual ballots in 2025.
The ballots were first proposed to the council in July by Councilwoman Van Tran. The controversy around the proposal sparked when fellow Councilwoman Dorothy Dean called Tran’s idea “un-American.”
City documents show Councilwoman Tran was later censured by the council “for unacceptable behavior and inappropriate actions towards City employees.” A series of meetings followed along with a petition from the public before the resolution was passed.
The resolution was also the result of Clayton County denying the question, “Should the city of Morrow use bilingual ballots in city elections?” being put on the upcoming November election. The denial was due to limited time to make changes before the election.
