February 20, 2022
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Yakima Valley senators vote no on WA voting rights law changes - Yakima Herald-Republic

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The Senate votes in a mostly empty chamber during the final day of the legislative session at the state Capitol in Olympia in 2021.

A proposal to update the Washington state Voting Rights Act and make it easier to bring forward a voting rights claim passed through the Senate this month without the support of Yakima Valley lawmakers.

Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, who sponsored the bill, said the legislation would expand access to fair representation for underrepresented communities in Washington, including in Yakima County where Latinos make up more than half of the population.

There have been two voting rights lawsuits filed against Yakima Valley governments in the past decade, alleging the election systems in the city of Yakima and Yakima County disenfranchised Latino voters. The lawsuits led to changes in the way representatives are elected, including getting rid of at-large elections.

“These updates to the Washington Voting Rights Act will help avoid costly lawsuits, empower local communities, and ensure our state continues to lead the way in safeguarding access to democracy,” Saldaña said in a Senate Democrats news release.

Senate Bill 5597 would require jurisdictions to get preclearance from the Office of the Attorney General for changes to voting practices, like redistricting, to ensure the changes are compliant with state law, according to the draft plan. It also:

  • Makes it easier to bring a voting rights claim.
  • Allows people to recover some costs if a jurisdiction makes changes because of a claim, regardless of a lawsuit being filed.
  • Establishes a database to help jurisdictions and the public evaluate election systems.
  • Allows counties to expand county commissions from three to five members.

The Senate passed the bill on Feb. 10. Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, voted against the proposal.

Honeyford said in an interview that he disliked that the proposal would make it easier for individuals to bring lawsuits against local governments.

“It would be very costly for local governments,” he said.

Honeyford said Republican senators offered an amendment to the draft bill that district boundaries may not be drawn or maintained in a manner that favors or disfavors any racial group or political party, but the amendment wasn’t accepted. Honeyford also said the provision for preclearance and approval of boundary changes was unnecessary.

“I really believe that the federal Voting Rights Act protects our citizens well enough,” Honeyford said. “We don’t, as Washington state, need to go further.”

King declined to comment.

Melissa Rubio, political director for immigrant rights groups OneAmerica and OneAmerica Votes, said the federal Voting Rights Act is weaker than ever. Recent court decisions have made the law less effective, she said.

“Washington state can be a leader in showing how we can protect the right to vote and maintain a healthy and vibrant democracy that really values representation,” Rubio said.

OneAmerica, as part of a statewide voting rights coalition, helped pass the original Washington Voting Rights Act legislation in 2018 and helped draft the updates outlined in the new proposal.

Rubio said the preclearance provision in the legislation will be helpful in preventing claims or lawsuits before changes are made in election systems, which would prevent costly litigation for claimants and governments after the fact. It’s a costly process to take a case to court, so the cost recovery plan would make that less of a burden, she said.

“(We can) ensure that voters have the right to elect people from our communities who have our lived experiences, who know what it’s like to struggle, who know what it’s like for English to not be your first language,” she said. “That will help our communities.”

SB 5597 is now in the House and under review by the House Committee on State Government and Tribal Relations.



source: https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/yakima-valley-senators-vote-no-on-wa-voting-rights-law-changes/article_4fc50efd-f168-5588-b934-1647e72ccf1b.html

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