Washington’s Redistricting Process Must Change
Wash. — After the Washington State Redistricting Commission assigned two Republicans and two Democrats to decide the fate of our state voters’ impacts by district, the redistricting process quickly became a partisan one that went so far as to illegally create maps out of the view of the public eye. The Redistricting Commission has since settled lawsuits waged against them for violating the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
Read RJW Statewide Coordinator Andrew Hong’s statement about the court’s decision and lawsuit:
It’s plain disrespectful that commissioners who decide the fate of our entire state’s electoral system only have to pay $500 fines each for making their decisions illegally, in private, and yet we’re continuing to use the maps they created in that illegal process. This is a flagrant violation of the law with zero consequence. Not to mention how such decisions pointedly dismiss the negative impacts these maps will have on majority-minority areas.
The maps created in closed-door, partisan deal-making ultimately remove voting power from communities of color across Washington state; They should not and never should have been used or validated in our state’s redistricting process. Washingtonians deserve new, fair, and legal map proposals, but our systems have denied that.
RJW Lead Organizer Margot Spindola offered the statement below about the lawsuits and the need for structural change in our redistricting process:
I can’t help but notice how the court found that Redistricting Commissioners met after their illegal, private meeting adjourned, continuing negotiations, and yet Commissioner Augustine swore under penalty of perjury that they did not negotiate afterward. Things don’t line up here. The court specifically allowed the illegally proposed maps to continue based almost solely on Augustine’s testimony when the Washington Coalition for Open Government’s case findings show the testimony sure seems like it was a lie.
Bottom line, this incredibly messy, partisan, and secretive process over all our voting rights demonstrates that we need deep, comprehensive redistricting changes by 2030. Voters deserve that much.
More Equitable Democracy’s policy director Colin Cole offered the statement below on conflicts between the RCW and the courts’ decisions:
The OPMA states, "any action taken at meetings" in violation of the OPMA is null and void (RCW 42.30.060) and the Thurston County Superior Court itself found the final maps were made in violation of the OPMA. We can’t sit here and pretend like the maps created should move forward or have any legal standing whatsoever.
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Redistricting Justice for Washington (RJW) brings together voices from across the state to hold the Redistricting Commission accountable to communities of color and tribal nations.
More Equitable Democracy (MED) is a racial justice organization led by people of color with the mission to advance racial equity by transforming electoral systems.
