The ACLU of Washington and National Voting Rights Advocacy Initiative are urging the Washington Redistricting Commission to establish a majority-minority state legislative district in Yakima County. In a letter submitted to the commission, the groups said the district is needed as a matter of democratic governance and in order to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“With changing demographics, Washington has a chance to give voice to people who have been underrepresented in our legislative system. It is vital that the large and growing population of Latinos and other minorities in central Washington have the ability to elect candidates of their choice,” said Sarah Dunne, ACLU of Washington Legal Director. Dunne cosigned the letter along with Joaquin Avila, Director of the National Voting Rights Advocacy Initiative and a professor at Seattle University School of Law. Prof. Avila will testify at the commission’s public hearing in Yakima on Wednesday night, June 8.
The letter says that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act compels the creation of a majority-minority district in Yakima County. Conditions in the county meet a three-factor test established by the U.S. Supreme Court for evaluating claims under Section 2: (1) that the minority groups are “sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority” in the district, (2) that the groups are “politically cohesive,” and (3) that majority voters’ bloc voting enables them “usually to defeat the minority's preferred candidate.”
Conditions in the region meet the legal standard of showing that “the voting system operates to prevent the minority group from participating equally in the political process and electing representatives of its choice.” Intent to discriminate is not a factor in determining whether a majority-minority district is legally required.
In support of the claim, the groups submitted Declarations from experts who have studied conditions in the region:
“The time has come for the creation of a majority-minority legislative district in Eastern Washington. Such a district will be geographically compact and will fulfill the democratic and legal imperative to create districts allowing full participation for all Washington citizens,” said the ACLU’s Sarah Dunne.