The Gwinnett County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections has appointed Kelvin Williams as acting elections supervisor. Williams joined Gwinnett County Voter Registrations and Elections in 2016 and has served as the deputy elections supervisor since 2021.
Current Elections Supervisor Zach Manifold, who has held the position since 2021, is leaving to join the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions.
Board of Voter Registrations and Elections Chair David Hancock says: “Gwinnett County is fortunate to have this depth of experience in its elections management team. Every time I ask someone a question they don’t know off the top of their head, their response is usually ‘Let me ask Kelvin.’ The Board is confident that Kelvin will manage the Elections Office and these midterm elections without missing a beat.”
With more than 24 years of voter registrations and elections administration experience — including serving as an elections director prior to joining Gwinnett County — Williams has successfully overseen the implementation of three voting systems and three statewide voter registration system migrations.
In 2025, Williams received the Georgia Award of Excellence in Election Administration from the Georgia Democracy Resilience Network and the Carter Center.
Zachary Manifold says: “Kelvin’s dedication to Gwinnett voters and thoughtful leadership have made a lasting impact on our elections. He brings exceptional knowledge, commitment and experience to this role, and his steady presence will see the division through the upcoming elections cycle with the integrity and transparency our voters expect.”
GGC finds a little reading goes a long way
As very young children, learning begins with recognizing numbers and letters. By third grade, students are reading books, opening worlds of wonder and knowledge. However, not all children make the transition to reading at grade level.
According to the Georgia Council on Literacy, 62 percent of third grade students are not reading proficiently. That number increases to 68 percent for fourth graders and 69 percent for eighth graders. This year, Georgia legislators are pushing for passage of the Georgia Early Literacy Act, designed to provide training and support for educators and screening for learning disabilities.
At Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) School of Education, faculty are taking a proactive approach to preparing future teachers to address the issue.
Dr. Jamie Caudill, assistant professor of Literacy Education and chair of GGC’s Elementary Education and Literacy Department, says: “Our reading assessment class trains our teacher candidates how to identify reading difficulties early. Once we pinpoint the need, our student candidates create individual lesson plans to help their students overcome those difficulties.”
For Snellville resident Crystal Coke, a junior majoring in elementary education at GGC, the classroom experience reinforces what she’s learning. “Early detection is key,” she says. “Screening our students helps us determine if they have a reading deficiency. For me, I also like just talking with them. You’ll hear if they struggle with things like phonics.” As a child, Coke’s favorite book was Llama Llama Red Pajama.
Kristina Jackson, a Braselton resident and junior elementary education major, says teaching is both challenging and rewarding. “If you know what a child likes, you can use that interest to help them read and improve the areas that need work. here to help them and put smiles on their faces.” Growing up, Jackson loved reading Are You My Mother? and The Rainbow Fish.
The reasons for low literacy vary, ranging from health issues to economic challenges.
Dr. Christine Reilly, associate professor of Literacy Education, Elementary Education and Literacy Department Chair, says: “Some students may have developmental delays or undiagnosed conditions like dyslexia. Many times, students simply haven’t been exposed to reading or haven’t been read to regularly by a parent. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to provide explicit and systematic reading instruction that all students deserve in those early years of learning.”
If reading deficiencies continue into adulthood, the consequences can be significant. According to the Adult Literacy 2023 Deloitte Report, nearly one million adults in Georgia have low literacy skills. The report also estimates that low literacy costs the state $1.2 billion annually through lost tax revenue, increased demand for social services and higher incarceration rates.
