(The Center Square) – House Democrats passed a bill on Thursday that would expand the Washington Voting Rights Act to require the attorney general’s approval before adjusting local election boundaries.
The 57-39 vote, which saw one Democrat cross the aisle to join every Republican in opposition, sent House Bill 1710 over to the Senate. The proposal would create a “preclearance” system under WVRA to prevent local governments from diminishing the ability of protected classes to participate in elections.
The bill would apply to counties, cities, towns, school districts, fire protection districts, ports and public utility districts that have a history of discriminatory patterns. Those governments would have to obtain AG approval before modifying boundaries, election methods, restricting language assistance and more.
“The Attorney General of Washington state [would have] the power to redraw all the boundary lines of every district in my community,” Rep. Jeremie Dufault, R-Selah, said. “And even if the attorney general is dead wrong, my community still has to pay for it — our tax dollars — we are not a wealthy county.”
HB 1710 would require preclearance if a covered jurisdiction were subject to enforcement actions or settlements for violating the Voting Rights Act, the state or the U.S. Constitution, or were subject to findings that the local government discriminated against protected classes within the last 25 years.
If the AG were to object to a city, school district, or other local government redrawing its boundaries or engaging in one of the other covered practices, it couldn’t implement the change without lawsuits.
Federal preclearance was in place for decades until the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 2013, handing control to the courts to decide on a case-by-case basis when to prevent election changes.
“We enjoyed preclearance without issue for 50 years,” Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma, said. “It is really hard to get people to participate in a system that has marginalized them, but I will never stop trying.”
Supporters argue that HB 1710 stops discrimination before it happens, saving taxpayers by avoiding lengthy lawsuits to undo changes that would require preclearance under the bill. Opponents argue that the rules governing which jurisdictions qualify as covered jurisdictions are arbitrary. They say it would slow decision-making and actually lead to more litigation due to state bureaucracy and red tape.
“This bill strengthens power for whoever is in charge, not for the people that they’re wielding this power against,” Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, said. “This bill is not about protecting an individual’s right to have their voices heard. This is an attempt to create districts that proliferate a certain political outcome.”
Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Qunicy, cited legislative map changes intended to improve Latino voters’ ability to elect state representatives, which resulted in a Latina Republican being pushed out of her district. The new maps also largely exclude Yakima County from his district, despite his having grown up there.
He said members pushing HB 1710 on the basis of preventing discrimination are guilty of just that.
“I’m Mexican American. I represent the Hispanics of Yakima, and that’s what I was doing until I was discriminated against and was kicked out of Yakima County,” he said. “And now, it’s happening again.”
